Home WebMail Friday, November 1, 2024, 03:28 PM | Calgary | 1.5°C | Regions Advertise Login | Our platform is in maintenance mode. Some URLs may not be available. |
Posted: 2020-08-07T23:10:01Z | Updated: 2020-08-07T23:10:01Z

The family of Sean Monterrosa, a 22-year-old fatally shot by police in Vallejo, California, in June, is suing the city and the officer involved.

The federal civil rights lawsuit filed Thursday accuses the Vallejo Police Department of not disciplining or re-training police officer Jarett Tonn despite a shocking history of shooting his gun at civilians. Tonn was reportedly involved in three other shootings in the past five years (the suspects all survived). It also accuses the city of destroying evidence by replacing the windshield of the truck that Tonn shot through and putting the vehicle back into service.

At a press conference in Vallejo Thursday, civil rights attorney John Burris, who filed the suit and is representing the family, called Tonns actions flat out murder. The suit calls Tonn trigger-happy.

Its hard we lost our only brother, Monterrosas sister, Michelle, said at the press conference This is not the end. We will do everything we can to make sure my brother gets justice.

On June 2, Monterrosa was killed when Vallejo police officers responded to reports of looting on the night of a Black Lives Matter protest. According to the police report , the officers saw a man (later identified as Monterrosa) outside a Walgreens who appeared to be armed and who ran toward a car, then turned to face officers and crouched. Monterrosa, it turned out, was not carrying a gun he had a hammer in his sweatshirt pocket, per the report. The lawsuit says Monterrosa was unarmed, on his knees and with nothing in his hands when he was shot.

Officers shot at Monterrosa five times, killing him. The lawsuit claims Tonn fired an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle at Monterrosa through the windshield of an unmarked pickup truck.

Tonn and other officers present were placed on paid administrative leave. None so far has been fired, arrested or charged.