The family of a man who was fatally shot by police in South Los Angeles filed a federal civil rights and wrongful death lawsuit Wednesday against the Los Angeles Police Department, alleging Ezell Ford was shot in the back as he lay on the ground.
Ford, 25, was shot at 8:10 p.m. Aug. 11 in the 200 block of West 65th Street in South Los Angeles.
Police said Officers Sharlton Wampler and Antonio Villegas were approaching Ford, who was making “suspicious movements,” when he turned and “grabbed one of the officers.”
“During the struggle, they fell to the ground and the individual (Ford) tried to remove the officer’s handgun from its holster,” according to the LAPD. “The partner officer then fired his handgun and the officer on the ground fired his backup weapon at the individual.”
Ford was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
According to the federal lawsuit, Wampler and Villegas — who are named plaintiffs — engaged in an unlawful search and seizure of Ford, denied him due process, used excessive force and violated his civil rights.
LAPD officials said Tuesday they could not discuss details of the ongoing investigation into the shooting.
Steven Lerman, the attorney representing the Ford family, said Ford was “mentally challenged,” a fact known to the officers, and was not doing anything wrong when he was stopped.
The two officers, he said, were “poorly trained” and have a documented “pattern and practice” of reckless conduct on the streets.
“These were rogue officers who knew everyone on that block,” Lerman told reporters outside the downtown courthouse. “This poorly disabled man became a victim of these officers.”
Lerman refused to discuss what evidence he has gathered to support allegations that Ford was not resisting when shot.
“This case will not be tried in the media — it’ll be tried in federal court,” he said.
The shooting touched off several protests and calls for a speedy and transparent investigation. Activists have contended that eyewitnesses dispute the police account of events.
“They said that Ford was not resisting, that he had mental challenges and that police officers in the area were well aware of him and his condition,” Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable President Earl Ofari Hutchinson said following Ford’s death.
Earlier this month, LAPD Inspector General Alexander Bustamante put out a call for witnesses to the shooting to come forward as he worked to complete his independent probe of the shooting. He said that despite reports that multiple people witnessed the shooting, only one had come forward to provide any information.
— City News Service