Federal lawsuit filed in fatal 2024 Sunnyvale police shooting of 19-year-old

The Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety is in the crosshairs of a federal civil rights lawsuit following an officer-involved shooting in 2024 that killed a 19-year-old.

"A senseless and avoidable killing such as this must be vindicated in a court of law, and an officer needs to be held accountable," said Adante Pointer, an Oakland-based attorney representing the victim's family.

Civil rights lawsuit

What we know:

In San Jose U.S. District Court on Wednesday, Pointer filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety and Officer Kevin Lemos in the shooting death of Emanuel Perez Becerra, who had struggled with mental health issues since the COVID pandemic.

The backstory:

In the March 29, 2024 incident, Lemos was one of several officers who responded to a 911 call that Becerra had made himself, seeking help. He was naked from the waist down and, according to police, did not obey multiple commands to drop the knife he was holding as he slowly walked toward Lemos. Lemos, a third-year officer at the time, fired two shots, killing Perez Becerra.

"They didn't use any of their less lethal alternatives as it relates to weapons and instead resorted to deadly force after giving commands," said Pointer. "This officer should be fired. Officers need to be retrained."

Sunnyvale DPS statement

The other side:

The department said in a statement to KTVU, "The City has not yet any notification of a lawsuit being filed, and we typically don't comment on any pending litigation."

Last year, the head of the Sunnyvale DPS said his officers receive extensive training and have less lethal weapon options, such as tasers and pepper spray.

"There are so many things going on in the mind of those cops when this is happening. There's time, there's space, there's movement. The circumstances are changing," said Professor Daniel Maxwell, a retired Connecticut police officer and criminal justice lecturer at the University of New Haven. "Ninety-nine percent of the time out of 100 they're going to revert to what they've trained in the most. What they're most comfortable with in their training."

‘Lifetime of discomfort’

What's next:

Pointer seeks to determine if that is true and added that Perez Becerra's family is left with a lifetime of discomfort and pain.

"Every day is an agonizing day. And for them, the pain of the actual incident happening last March hasn't gone away, it hasn't dissipated. And I think most parents would understand, it never will," he said.

The lawsuit seeks damages and a training overhaul for all officers at the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety.

The Source: Information for this story comes from the attorney representing the family of Emanuel Perez Becerra, as well as from the Sunnyvale Police Department.

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