SANTA ANA, Calif. — The family of Victor Lopez, an 18-year-old fatally shot by Santa Ana police during a January traffic stop, has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging the unarmed teenager was “surrendering” when an officer shot him in the back.
According to the lawsuit, filed May 8 in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, Lopez “was unarmed and surrendering to Santa Ana police when he was killed inside a parking garage on Jan. 29.”
Civil rights attorney Adante Pointer, representing the family, sharply criticized the shooting in a statement accompanying the filing.
“Victor Lopez was 18 years old, unarmed and surrendering when a Santa Ana police officer shot him in the back,” Pointer said. “That is not public safety, it’s police terror.”
Pointer added that “police officers are trained to recognize surrender” and argued that “our Constitution does not allow officers to execute someone who is trying to submit to their authority.”
Attorney Bryan Harrison also argued that Lopez was complying with police commands before the shooting.
“Victor Lopez did what officers say they want people to do,” Harrison said. “He stopped. He got out. He raised his hands. He began lowering himself to the ground. He should have been taken into custody, not shot in the back.”
According to the lawsuit, Lopez was driving home with his girlfriend and their 1-year-old son around 10:30 p.m. Jan. 29 when a Santa Ana police officer allegedly began following the family into the parking garage of their apartment complex.
The lawsuit states that Lopez stopped the vehicle and fell to the ground while exiting the car, causing a firearm to drop onto the pavement.
Despite the gun falling away from him, the lawsuit alleges Lopez “continued following the officer’s orders,” “raised both hands above his head,” and “began lowering himself toward the ground in an unmistakable act of surrender.”
The complaint further alleges that “as Lopez was moving to lie on the garage floor and submit to custody, the officer fired three rounds into the back of the unarmed man.”
According to the lawsuit, Lopez’s girlfriend and young son “watched him bleed to death for about 10 minutes until paramedics arrived,” while the officer allegedly “made no moves to render first aid.”
The family’s attorneys also challenged the department’s public account of the shooting.
Following the incident, Santa Ana police reportedly issued a statement claiming Lopez had been reaching for the firearm. However, the lawsuit argues that “evidence and witness testimony will show that’s not true.”
“We live in a time when police departments try to shape the narrative by issuing statements before releasing or even reviewing the evidence,” Pointer said.
He added that “Victor’s family should not be left with the police department’s story when physical evidence and witnesses tell us the opposite: that an unarmed man was surrendering when he was shot in the back.”
The lack of transparency is also a critical point of contention, according to the family’s attorneys.
“Where’s the transparency?” Harrison said. “Name the officer. Release the officer’s statement. What are they hiding?”
Harrison further argued that “deadly force is not supposed to be used against an unarmed person with his hands raised and his back turned.”
As of the release announcing the lawsuit, Santa Ana police had not publicly responded to the allegations contained in the complaint.
The case adds to ongoing national debates surrounding police use of force, officer transparency and accountability following fatal encounters during traffic stops and investigatory detentions.
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