A federal judge in Houston, Texas, as part of his judgment stemming from a 2018 case, awarded about $2 million in damages resulting from an FBI agent’s actions. The FBI agent shot and killed a kidnapped Texas man in a suburban home during a failed rescue mission.

The family of the kidnap victim, Ulises Valladares, 47, filed a lawsuit claiming Mr. Valladares was powerless as he was kidnapped, blindfolded, and tied up when FBI Agent Gavin Lappe shot and killed him in error. The government’s attempt to save the man failed when agents stormed the home where he was being held prisoner.

Armed agents broke into the house, and Agent Lappe broke a window to gain access during the chaotic scene. In court documents, Lappe said he believed a kidnapper had grabbed his rifle when in reality it was the victim. He said he did not know it was Mr. Valladares when he shot and killed him.

At the time of the mistaken shooting death, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said it was a mistake.

“A well-intentioned effort to rescue a man who had been kidnapped ended in a tragic outcome,” said Chief Acevedo.

In court, the Valladares family’s attorney argued otherwise. The lawyer, Douglas York, said that the rescue attempt was disorganized and “a roadmap of mistakes.”

“We’re not saying the guy went there with malice in heart so that he could kill a duct-taped hostage,” Mr. York said. “But once they got there, they failed to protect the very person they were designed to do. And when you’re holding a deadly weapon, I think you owe a duty to the hostage not to kill him.”

The violent kidnapping occurred when Mr. Valladares was kidnapped from his home in Conroe, Texas, about 40 miles from Houston. At the time of the kidnapping, Mr. Valladares’ 12-year-old son called the police, who then contacted the FBI for help. The FBI tracked down two men to a local motel near Houston, and when they confronted the suspects, the men told the FBI to go to a Houston house where a female suspect was supposedly holding Mr. Valladares.

An FBI SWAT team was organized, and at about 3:30 a.m. they broke into the house, with one group of agents going in by the front door, and two more FBI agents entering through a window in the back of the house. One agent used a tool to break the window, but it slipped away and fell into the house. It was at that time the agent used his M4 rifle to break the window’s glass but then fell into the house.

Unknown to Agent Lappe, who fell into the room of the house with his rifle, when someone tried to pull the rifle away from him, he fired twice, hitting the victim with one bullet. Mr. Valladares died at the hospital from the shooting.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt, in a ten-page judgment, said he found Agent Lappe “was negligent, even grossly negligent, in his response.” He also said he found Agent Lappe was the “sole” cause of the victim’s death.

After the family filed a suit against the FBI agents and Agent Lappe, Lappe moved to dismiss the case against him by asserting qualified immunity. Qualified immunity offers police and other law enforcement agents protections from civil lawsuits seeking financial damages for injuries caused by the agent’s actions. Initially, the federal judge hearing the case denied the motion, ruling that Lappe could indeed be sued in this instance. However, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the lower court’s ruling reinstating Lappe’s claim to qualified immunity.

However, though the agent may not be personally liable for monetary damages, the civil suit was still allowed to move forward against the government, which eventually resulted in a favorable decision for the plaintiffs in the case.

The $2 million award was awarded to the widow and son of Mr. Valladares.