A federal jury in downtown Los Angeles has awarded $3 million to the daughter of an Air Force veteran who was unarmed when shot and seriously injured by Los Angeles Police Department officers in 2022, according to court papers obtained Thursday.
The jury in Los Angeles federal court concluded Wednesday that the officers were not justified in their use of deadly force against Jermaine Petit, and that the shots fired against Petit were not necessary to defend human life.
At trial, evidence showed that Petit was unarmed at the time of the July 18, 2022, shooting but was carrying a black metal auto part shaped like a small gun. When the officers initially approached Petit, he showed them the car part in his hand, and one of the officers stated, “It’s not a gun, bro,” evidence showed.
Petit then walked away from the officers. Despite the statement that the object was not a gun, one officer fired two shots at Petit from his patrol vehicle, striking him in the jaw, and another officer fired one shot that struck Petit in the back as Petit was going to the ground or on the ground, plaintiff’s lead trial counsel Dale K. Galipo said.
The plaintiff’s attorneys said neither officer gave Petit a warning before using deadly force against him. The officers, however, alleged that Petit turned toward them with the object and took a shooting stance.
“I’m very pleased with the jury verdict and thankful to the jurors for giving justice and fair compensation for Mr. Petit’s injuries and suffering,” Galipo said in a statement following the verdict.
After an investigation of the shooting, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office determined in April 2024 that the officers “fired their service weapons, reasonably believing, based on the totality of the circumstances, that deadly force was necessary to defend themselves and others against an imminent deadly threat.”
According to the report, officers responded to a dispatch call describing Petit as a transient carrying a gun and lighting trash on fire in a residential neighborhood.
Though Petit survived the shooting, he was found dead in his home in 2024. The cause of death was undetermined.