Jurors to start deliberating Rockford police shooting case

ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) - A civil lawsuit filed against the city of Rockford by a church where police shot and killed an unarmed black man in 2009 is headed to the jury.

The Rockford Register Star reports (http://bit.ly/1Zw6wMy ) jurors adjourned Wednesday after hearing more than four hours of closing arguments and instructions. They are expected to reconvene Thursday morning to begin deliberations.

The plaintiffs, Kingdom Authority International Ministries Church, asked jurors Wednesday to award them as much as $4 million. The church is seeking compensation for emotional distress suffered by children and day care operators who were present when Mark Anthony Barmore was killed. He fled from police into the church and tried to hide in a boiler room, where he was shot.

City attorneys say the officers' actions were necessary to protect the children and day care workers.

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Information from: Rockford Register Star, http://www.rrstar.com