College Station facing new federal lawsuit over shooting death of student in 2023 warrant execution

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) - The City of College Station and 11 members of the College Station Police Department are named as defendants in a new federal lawsuit connected to the execution of a February 2023 search warrant where 22-year-old Mark Hopkins was killed by police.

The lawsuit was filed by the parents of Mark Hopkins and his girlfriend at the time, Alyssa Wilson, who was in the home when the warrant was served. Hopkins' family previously sued the City of College Station in October 2023 for access to records they believed necessary to investigate the death of their son and came to an agreement with the city in December 2023.

In the new filing, attorneys call the execution of the early-morning search warrant a “military-style raid” and suggest it was conducted improperly, poorly planned, and not followed up by appropriate action by the city.

The City of College Station responded to the lawsuit Friday morning, pledging to “vigorously defend all its officers' actions alleged in the complaint” and maintaining the affidavit and warrants in the case were presented correctly. The city also noted the filing of the complaint was the first communication from the Hopkins family or their attorneys in more than a year.

Read the city’s statement below:

This filing offers a number of new details police previously declined to make public, including the use of an M84 flash-bang grenade upon entry to the home.

In 2023, police told KBTX they forced entry into Hopkins' home “after knocking and announcing ‘police, search warrant’ numerous times.” A police spokesperson furthered that police “gave the residents several opportunities to answer the door but after no answer, they breached the door and continued to announce their presence as police officers saying ‘police, search warrant.’”

According to the lawsuit, residents inside the home did not hear anyone announcing the police presence and believed they were dealing with intruders, not the police.

The lawsuit also says the police department received authorization for the raid, in part, by submitting a false statement to the College Station Municipal Court. KBTX first documented the inconsistencies in College Station’s warrant paperwork on February 13, 2023, when the warrants were returned to the court. Police later admitted Hopkins was not a suspect, but declined to answer questions from KBTX about the warrants. In a statement released in October 2023, police clarified Hopkins was “mislabeled” as a suspected party on the original warrant, but said context in the document made the mislabeling clear. The city insisted any mislabeling did not constitute false or misleading information.

Most specifically, the lawsuit accuses Chief Billy Couch of the College Station Police Department (CSPD), as well as the department, for “failing to train officers in the use of proper and appropriate search and seizure procedures, the use of excessive and deadly force, and the proper use of M84 flash-bang grenades.” The officer accused of killing Hopkins has also been accused of making false statements during the investigation. The lawsuit says Hopkins' was repeatedly accused of engaging in criminal conduct to justify his death.

In the filing submitted to the U.S. District Court in Houston, a copy of the body camera video from the officer who shot Mark Hopkins was submitted as evidence. That video, however, was not available for public download because limitations within the court records system required it to be submitted by USB drive. The City of College Station has declined to make the video publicly available.

“This terrible tragedy was 100% preventable,” the lawsuit includes. “Mark and his girlfriend were asleep in Mark’s room. They had no idea what was happening. They were not engaged in any illegal activity and were not attempting to harm anyone. Nonetheless, because of the reckless and intentional violations of Mark’s constitutional rights, Mark is now dead.”

In a release provided by the plaintiffs' attorneys, Hopkins' mother said, “The police destroyed Mark’s life, and the City of College Station still refuses to be accountable. We remain focused on clearing Mark’s name. As we have said before, Mark respected authority, and he had no criminal record of any kind.”

Read the full lawsuit:

Read the full release from the plaintiffs’ attorney: