OAKLAND, Calif. — A federal civil rights lawsuit alleges Richmond police officers escalated a mental health crisis and used “needless” deadly force against Jose De Jesus Mendez-Rios, an unarmed 51-year-old man who “was essentially alone and isolated from the public” when he was shot and killed, according to a press release and the complaint filed in federal court.
The lawsuit, Hernandez et al. v. City of Richmond, was filed March 16 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, according to Newsroom Public Relations’ press release.
According to the press release, Mendez-Rios was “experiencing a mental health crisis” when Richmond police responded to his estranged wife’s home and had prior knowledge of his mental health history.
The complaint states that Richmond police were familiar with Mendez-Rios from prior encounters and had “successfully managed the situation…without the use of lethal force” during earlier mental health crises.
The lawsuit further states that officers later found Mendez-Rios walking along Union Pacific railroad tracks and followed him for “about 30 to 45 minutes” before containing him in “an isolated area where he posed no danger to the public.”
According to the complaint, the area where officers confronted him was bordered by “a tall fence, a steep slope that leads to a ravine and creek,” and “there were no members of the public or anyone else” present.
“Even so, the officers ignored their training and failed to keep a safe barrier between themselves and Mr. Mendez-Rios,” the press release highlights.
The complaint similarly alleges officers “ignored their training and ultimately violated the law by failing to maintain containment or use/place a physical barrier,” while “multiple officers yelled commands at the disoriented man leading to needless confusion.”
According to the lawsuit, “several officers shouted commands at him at once, which only confused the disoriented man,” and instead of using a single officer to communicate, officers “escalated the situation, tased him, and ultimately set in motion the needless use of deadly force.”
The complaint further details that officers fired a less-lethal munition and deployed a Taser, after which Mendez-Rios “began to move in an apparent effort to avoid being shot again,” escalating the encounter.
The complaint further states that an officer believed Mendez-Rios was holding a knife, but “there was no knife, only a knife sheath,” raising questions about how officers perceived a threat.
It also notes that “not a single Richmond Police Officer ever claimed to have actually seen Mr. Mendez-Rios unsheathe a knife nor did Officers ever claim they saw him holding or waiving a knife.”
The lawsuit alleges Mendez-Rios “was hit multiple times, including after he was lying unmoving on the ground,” indicating continuing use of lethal force after he was down.
According to the complaint, after Mendez-Rios “had fallen to the ground and was in obvious medical distress,” officers “continued to fire an additional seven or more bullets at him while he lay on the ground motionless.”
“This grieving family has many unanswered questions … why police did not follow their training … so everyone … lived,” civil rights attorney Adante Pointer said, according to the Newsroom Public Relations press release.
Pointer added, “Jose Mendez-Rios was in obvious mental distress, and this should have been handled as a crisis intervention, not a fatal shooting,” according to the same press release.
The Newsroom Public Relations press release states the California Department of Justice is investigating the incident as the shooting of an unarmed civilian.
The complaint states the DOJ initiated an independent investigation because the shooting “resulted in the death of an unarmed civilian.”
The press release further states that one of the officers involved is under investigation in a separate fatal shooting involving a U.S. Marine during another mental health crisis in August 2025.
The complaint similarly alleges that Officer Nicholas Remick was involved in another fatal shooting just six months later involving a person “reportedly also in the midst of a mental health crisis.”
The family of Mendez-Rios, including his wife and son, appeared alongside their attorneys at the March 17 press conference in Oakland to publicly address the lawsuit and seek accountability for the shooting, according to Newsroom Public Relations press release.
The press conference was held at the offices of Pointer & Buelna, Lawyers for the People, where attorneys outlined claims that officers failed to follow established crisis intervention practices.
Officers had prior experience responding to Mendez-Rios during similar mental health crises and had previously “successfully managed the situation … without the use of lethal force,” the lawsuit states.
The complaint further states that officers are trained to “establish communication and rapport,” use “a single point of contact,” and “maximize time and distance” to avoid the use of deadly force.
Despite those standards, the complaint alleges officers approached and surrounded Mendez-Rios even though he was “isolated, not being armed with a gun and not posing an immediate threat to anyone,” and that “time and distance was clearly on the assembled officers’ side.”
According to the lawsuit, the family is seeking damages for the wrongful death of Jose De Jesus Mendez-Rios and violations of constitutional rights related to the handling of the incident.
The complaint alleges the officers’ conduct violated Mendez-Rios’ Fourth Amendment rights, stating he was “unarmed, outnumbered and not a credible threat” at the time he was shot.
The lawsuit also alleges emotional distress and claims that officers failed to use de-escalation tactics despite recognizing that Mendez-Rios was experiencing a mental health crisis.
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