Posted on 11/05/2013 7:29:58 AM PST by Uncle Chip
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The parents of a 13-year-old California boy killed last month while carrying a plastic replica of an assault rifle filed a civil rights lawsuit on Monday against the sheriff's deputy who shot him ...
Deputy Erick Gelhaus, 48, shot Andy Lopez Cruz as the eighth grader was walking near his home in the wine-country town of Santa Rosa carrying an imitation gun he planned to return to a friend, relatives and officials have said.....
On Monday, attorney Arnoldo Casillas filed the federal lawsuit against Gelhaus and Sonoma County in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on behalf of the boy's parents. The suit seeks unspecified damages and alleges the deputy violated the teen's civil rights.
"The shooting of Andy Lopez was absolutely and unequivocally unjustified," Casillas told a news conference, saying he hoped the lawsuit would spur a more thorough investigation.
He said he plans to depose Gelhaus and ask him, "What the hell were you thinking? He is 5-foot-4, 140 pounds."....
The boy's parents, Sujay Cruz and Rodrigo Lopez, told reporters on Monday they wanted "an honest investigation."
Their son was wearing a hoodie sweatshirt [and shorts] and walking about a block away from his home when Gelhaus and an unidentified officer he was training spotted the boy carrying what appeared to be an assault rifle, police said.
Gelhaus, a 24-year veteran of the force who served 10 years in the military with a stint in Iraq, ordered the boy to drop the gun.
When the teen turned toward Gelhaus, who was crouched behind the door of the patrol car, said he saw the barrel of the gun rise.
Gelhaus said he fired eight shots, killing the boy in a situation that authorities said developed in seconds....
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
He also said a witness reported he saw the teen walking with the gun moments before the shooting and could tell from his stature and the way he was carrying the gun that Andy was a child carrying a toy.
He said he plans to depose Gelhaus and ask him, "What the hell were you thinking? He is 5-foot-4, 140 pounds."....
Some days you should never leave the Krispy Kreme.
For this guy, every day is that day.
I didn’t see this question asked or answered...did the gun have the orange “this is a toy” tip?
Law enforcement should be required to comply with the same Rules of Engagement that are imposed on our Military.
You cannot fire unless you are fired upon.
Interesting premise. They should have to deal with constantly changing ROE, too. That always makes it fun.
One of my problems is with the 7 shots fired at the kid.
The cop must be some trigger happy gung-ho extremist war veteran looking for a crime... eff him
No, the orange tip is not on the gun they showed on tv, they say the kid removed it . . .
This article confirms what we’ve known all along — this deputy and his claims and the claims of his defenders are pure BS.
Gelhaus should be in jail.
No — it appears that the orange tip, if it had one, was cut off.
“I didn’t see this question asked or answered...did the gun have the orange “this is a toy” tip?”
I didn’t. So what?
How come gangs haven't painted orange tips on real guns? Wouldn't that give the bad guys a split-second advantage?
Ah, thanks for the info.
Tough profession. One mistake can wipeout your entire career.
It can also wipe out an entire life.
Just sent this to the atty:
Hello,
Re: Andy Lopez Cruz, was Deputy Erick Gelhaus desensitized and trained using the NO MORE HESITATION targets provided by Law Enforcement Targets Inc.?
See this one: http://leaksource.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/no-more-hesitation-7.jpg as an exemplar.
Did training with these targets contribute to young Mr. Lopez’ murder under the color of authority? If so, shouldn’t LET be sued out of business?
Have at ‘em.
10 seconds between radio calls. First call was they spotted the kid, second was they had shot the kid.
They had decided to shoot before stopping.
Seven shots with no initial or return fire?
Sounds more like SEVEN mistakes to me.
I don’t know all the facts but this looks bad for the cop. What I do know is if a civilian shot a kid who turned out to only have a bb gun he would be sitting in jail or out on a massive bond (10% of which he would never get back) while the DA goes over the case. A cop on the other hand gets paid administrative leave.
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