The city of College Station responds to a court action filed earlier this month by the parents of a man who was shot and killed by College Station police earlier this year during the execution of a search warrant.
Quoting the city’s statement, “The Doyle Law Firm press release on Oct. 9 alleges the city’s warrant service was based on a “glaringly false” warrant and “false” affidavit. Those allegations are entirely unfounded.”
Additionally, the statement says “The Texas Rangers, the Brazos County district attorney, and the Brazos County grand jury found no wrongdoing by the city after conducting thorough, independent, and unbiased investigations.”
The parents of Mark Norris filed a motion in Brazos County district court in an attempt to get more information from CSPD. According to the city’s statement, “city representatives have repeatedly offered to speak with the family.” The city also states “through their family attorney, the chief of police has invited the Hopkins family to face-to-face meetings, but they have not accepted what remains an open invitation.”
Click HERE to read and download the city of College Station response.
Original story, October 9, 2023:
The parents of a College Station man who was shot and killed by a College Station policeman in February 2023 take the city of College Station to Brazos County district court in an attempt to get more information.
The lawyers representing the parents have also hired a public relations firm. Their representative issued a release saying Mark Norris was killed “in an explosive, military-style raid based on a “glaringly false” (search) warrant.”
The district court action, according to the P.R. firm, sued the City of College Station “to force an end to the city’s continuing coverup in the case”.
The court filing says CSPD has provided the parents only highly edited body camera video showing officers executing a search warrant that led to what they described as a “hail of bullets” resulting in Hopkins being killed in his bedroom.
The court filing also says Hopkins and his girlfriend did not participate in any illegal activities. But on the application to get the search warrant, they were listed as “suspicious parties”. The target of the search warrant was the boyfriend of Hopkins female roommate.
The court filing also mentions that the CSPD officer who shot and killed Hopkins was not indicted by a grand jury.
A statement from the city of College Station says in part that the city “disagrees strongly with the statements made by the family’s attorney. The City has met and worked with the family’s attorney while complying with the law, has cooperated with the family, and has offered to meet directly with them. The City will respond accordingly to the petition to investigate the claim before a suit is filed”.
Statement from the public relations firm hired by the legal firm representing Hopkins parents:
The family of a 22-year-old college student killed in an explosive, military-style raid based on a “glaringly false” warrant sued the City of College Station today to force an end to the city’s continuing coverup in the case, the family’s attorneys at Doyle Dennis LLP law firm and co-counsel said today.
In a lawsuit filed in state district court in Brazos County, the family of Mark Hopkins seeks to force the city to “uncover the full truth about what led to the untimely and unjustifiable death” of Hopkins who was awoken and killed by police early on the morning of Feb. 8, 2023 in the raid of the off-campus home he rented. The College Station Police Department also is accused of submitting a false statement to a local municipal court to obtain the raid warrant.
Hopkins, a Blinn Junior College student preparing to transfer to Texas A&M University, died after being struck in a hail of gunfire. Hopkins’ girlfriend, Alyssa Wilson, survived the attack, which was initiated with the explosion of a so-called flash bang device. Disoriented in the onslaught and believing burglars had broken into the home, Hopkins grabbed his personal shotgun to protect himself and Wilson as she hid in a closet. Police later claimed to be targeting a purported drug dealer allegedly tied to Hopkins’ housemate. The suspect was not present at the home at 925 Spring Loop during the raid.
As allowed by Texas law, the Hopkins family’s “Rule 202” court filing seeks complete access to the incident reports and investigative documents, including the complete and unedited body camera footage of all CSPD officers involved in the warrant, the underlying raid, and the shooting of Hopkins. According to the court filing, despite months of requests by Mark’s parents, Cynthia Hopkins and Geoffrey Hopkins, College Station PD has only provided to the family abbreviated and highly edited body camera footage of the warrant execution that led to Mark’s death.
The family is represented by Michael Patrick Doyle, Patrick M. Dennis, and Jeffrey I. Avery, of Doyle Dennis LLP, of Houston, and Aaron W. Perry, of the Law Firm of Aaron W. Perry, PLLC, of Bellaire, Texas.
Geoffrey Hopkins, Mark’s father, said, “Our investigation is focused and on clearing Mark’s name. He respected authority and he had no criminal record of any kind. In this case, the police just refuse to be accountable. Citizens of College Station and parents that send their innocent children to school in the Aggieland area should be warned that this could happen to them. The City’s lack of transparency raises many troubling questions. We want to know who is responsible for initiating and executing the false affidavit that led to the death of our son – and we want to investigate the conduct and claims of College Station PD before, during, and after the attack on Mark and Alyssa.”
Cynthia Hopkins, Mark’s mother, said, “College Station police are sworn to protect our kids, not recklessly endanger them. The profound sorrow and grief our family feels is surpassed only by the disappointment in and anger over how this entire situation has been handled by the City of College Station. The police destroyed his life and refuse to tell us who or why did this. As parents, we will never experience Mark’s college graduation, a beautiful wedding or the grandchildren we looked forward to enjoying with him, and his wonderful girlfriend, the woman he hoped to marry, lost the love of her life. She had to watch him be murdered over false police information.”
Attorney Michael Patrick Doyle, of Doyle Dennis LLP, said, “The City of College Station continues to refuse to justify why it initiated a terrifying, commando-like attack on Mark Hopkins and Alyssa Wilson and why the police department submitted false statements under penalty of perjury to the court to justify their warrant. This lawsuit is an important step forward for the Hopkins family as they search for the truth the City of College Station has not wanted released. We hope the City will finally reverse course and set the record straight for the Hopkins family and for the public the police department serves. Until then, and as the lawsuit filing and we continue to ask, ‘What is College Station PD attempting to hide?’”
The case is Cynthia Hopkins and Geoffrey Hopkins v. City of College Station, Cause No. 23-002880-CV-85 in the 85th District Court of Brazos County, Texas.
Statement from the city of College Station, issued October 9, 2023:
“The Texas Rangers conducted an independent, thorough, fair, and transparent investigation, and the City is confident in their findings. The Brazos County grand jury also reviewed the matter and returned a No Bill, finding no criminal conduct by the officer involved. The loss of life is always tragic, and the City sympathizes with everyone involved. However, the City of College Station disagrees strongly with the statements made by the family’s attorney. The City has met and worked with the family’s attorney while complying with the law, has cooperated with the family, and has offered to meet directly with them. The City will respond accordingly to the petition to investigate the claim before a suit is filed, as the matter is related to a pending criminal case involving Abraham Escobar and others.”