Strickland parents plan to sue UNCW police

DURHAM (AP) — The parents of a teenager fatally shot by a sheriff’s deputy plan to sue the police department at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

The Star-News of Wilmington reported Thursday that Donald and Kathleen Strickland of Durham have filed court documents in Durham County saying they intend to file a wrongful death claim. The documents release New Hanover County from liability.

Their 18-year-old son, Peyton, and two friends were accused of beating a UNC-Wilmington student and stealing PlayStation 3 video game systems in December 2006. During a raid of his house in Wilmington, a sheriff’s deputy shot Peyton through the front door.

Authorities have said Peyton was unarmed.

Campus police asked for the sheriff’s assistance after finding Internet photos of another suspect, Peyton’s friend Ryan Mills, posing with guns.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)