A lawsuit brought on behalf of the daughter of a 31- year-old man killed by Los Angeles police last June alleges that her father was shot in the back.
The Los Angeles Superior Court complaint alleges wrongful death, civil rights violations and negligent hiring, training and supervision in the June 10 death of Keith Myron Bursey Jr. The 17-year-old plaintiff’s mother brought the case on her daughter’s behalf on Friday.
A representative of the City Attorney’s Office did not immediately return a call for comment.
Chief Charlie Beck spoke about the shooting during a June 14 with police commissioners.
“This is obviously a tragic incident for all involved, but there is nothing on the face of it that would cause me to think that the officers were doing anything but their jobs,” Beck said then.
The shooting occurred about 8:30 p.m. near West Slauson and Brynhurst avenues in Hyde Park. After members of an anti-gang detail made a traffic stop, a man armed with a gun got out of the car, a confrontation occurred and officers opened fire, police said previously.
Bursey was a passenger in a car driven by a friend, according to the lawsuit, which states that two officers approached the car after it was driven pulled into a private parking lot, claimed they smelled marijuana, and ordered another passenger who was in the car with Bursey to get out.
One of the officers then directed Bursey, who was recuperating from a previous injury, to also emerge from the vehicle, the suit says. Bursey tried to run from the officer, but was unarmed and was not a threat to him, according to the complaint.
The officer “immediately drew his weapon and fired several shots into the back of Mr. Bursey,” the suit alleges.
Bursey, who could not run fast because of his prior injury, was less than 20 feet away when the officer shot him, according to the lawsuit. He died later that night at a hospital.
