On May 18, 2014, 26-year-old Ashley Ann DiPiazza of Madison, Wisconsin, died from injuries sustained in a shooting during a police response to a domestic disturbance at her apartment. Officers were called after an argument with her boyfriend ended their relationship; DiPiazza had been drinking and had locked herself in her bedroom with a handgun. A negotiator, Officer Carey Leerek, communicated with her for about 45 minutes.

When DiPiazza emerged holding the gun to her own head, officers say she ignored commands to drop the weapon and two officers, Justin Bailey and Gary Pihlaja, shot her. An autopsy showed she had been shot 11 times. The Dane County District Attorney’s office declined to bring criminal charges, and an internal review found no departmental policy violations.

The family filed a federal civil suit, and in July 2017 a jury found Bailey and Pihlaja had used unreasonable force, awarding the family compensatory and punitive damages; Leerek was found not responsible.