PHOENIX (AP) - The mother of a 29-year-old man killed a year ago by Phoenix police during a trespassing call filed a lawsuit alleging that officers zapped her son in the back with a stun gun during a struggle and pinned him down before fatally shooting him.
The lawsuit filed Monday in the death of Hector Lopez alleged Officers Chad Canedy and Nick Calandra used excessive force after approaching Lopez and his sister in May 2019 as they slept in a parked car in a south Phoenix neighborhood.
Police have said Canedy and Calandra opened fire after Lopez grabbed a gun and pointed it at the officers. Police said the person who made the trespassing call expressed concerns about attempted break-ins and drug activity in the area.
Phoenix police officers shot 15 people last year, including 12 who died. The Lopez family took part in several protests of police shootings last year outside the Phoenix Police Department.
The lawsuit said Lopez and his sister were unable to respond when officers approached the car and ordered them out because they were sleeping. Police have said the struggle centered on a gun inside the car that fell to the ground when Lopez opened the door.
While police say Lopez dived toward the gun and grabbed it, the lawsuit said Calandra kicked it out of reach, pulled Lopez out the car, got on top of Lopez and held down his hands to the ground.
The lawsuit said Canedy piled on and pinned Lopez by putting a knee in the middle of Lopez’s back. Calandra then shot Lopez in the back with a stun gun, the lawsuit said.
“Then, with his body pinned to the ground, both officers unloaded multiple shots from their department-issued Glock Nines into the body of Hector Lopez,” the lawsuit said.
The Phoenix Police Department and the city’s Law Department declined to comment on the lawsuit filed by Lopez’s mother, Reynalda Lopez-Osuna.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office said it didn’t believe the officers had committed a crime in Lopez’s shooting death.
The lawsuit didn’t specify the amount of damages being sought by Lopez-Osuna.
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