A lawsuit has been filed against the city of Los Angeles on behalf of two children whose father was shot to death in 2023 by Los Angeles police who say he ran at them with a knife in the Pico-Union District.
The Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit plaintiffs are identified only as M.B. and L.D. in the complaint that alleges wrongful death/negligence, battery and civil rights violations. The Sept. 13, 2023, shooting of their 35- year-old father, Carlos De Anda, was captured on officer body-camera footage that was released publicly.
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A spokesman for the city attorney's office said Monday that the office does not comment on pending litigation.
According to the suit filed Friday, officers responded to a vandalism call in the 1200 block of South New Hampshire Avenue. De Anda was alone in a large parking lot with walls on three sides, but with fencing on the street side that allowed the officers to see De Anda, the suit further states.
One officer had a less-lethal weapon and both "knew or should have known that (De Anda) was or could have been experiencing a mental health crisis," the suit states. The officer without the less-lethal weapon, a probationary department member, said the LAPD's mental health team should be called, but his experienced colleague did not agree, according to the complaint.
More officers arrived to assist, including another probationary officer, the suit states.
According to the suit, the officers escalated the situation by shouting conflicting demands at the disoriented De Anda, then lost a chance to cool matters when De Anda stopped about 30 feet from them, the suit states. The officers also did not warn De Anda that deadly force could be used if he did not comply with their orders, the suit further states.
The two probationary officers shot De Anda as he "took merely one step in an effort to continue out of the parking lot and not toward any officer," according to the suit, which makes no mention of a knife.
The two officers were "not faced with an immediate defense of life situation and had less-lethal alternatives available to take (De Anda) into custody," the suit states.
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