The parents of a 21-year-old man killed in an LAPD officer-involved shooting at Universal City Plaza last year are suing the city.
James White and Tracy Carter, the father and mother of James Renee White Jr., filed the lawsuit Thursday, alleging wrongful death, assault and battery, negligence and civil rights violations. The suit seeks unspecified damages.
“(White) was an aspiring young African-American male with ambitious goals and dreams,” the suit states.
An LAPD spokeswoman declined to comment on the suit today.
According to the lawsuit, White was at the Infusion Lounge on May 12 when an altercation inside caused him and other patrons to leave. He was walking along City Walk when gun shots were fired, prompting the LAPD to respond, the suit states.
“Without any investigation, warning or any attempt to restrain the decedent in a non-lethal manner, defendants fatally shot James Renee White Jr.,” the suit states. “The decedent was pronounced dead at the scene as a result of a gunshot wound, for which the Los Angeles Police Dept. took responsibility.”
White posed no threat to the officers, the suit alleges.
The incident was the first slaying at City Walk since 1995, when a man fatally stabbed two relatives in a parking lot.
— City News Service