A lawsuit was announced Thursday against the San Diego Police Department for a deadly shooting of a trolley passenger who police say threatened officers with a pellet gun made to look like a real pistol at a transit stop north of the U.S.-Mexico border.
The lawsuit was being filed by the family of Mauricio Ramos, who was shot and killed by San Diego police on June 4 as he exited an MTS trolley at the San Ysidro Transit Center at around 9 p.m. The family is represented by their lawyer Stephen King.
The incident began as the trolley was heading south toward the transit station, the last and southernmost stop on the MTS Blue Line. Witnesses called police to report an armed passenger who was acting erratically, SDPD said in a news release. One witness told police a man was "foaming at the mouth," according to an edited video released by SDPD.
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Edited surveillance video captured by a security system on the trolley and released by SDPD shows Ramos, a one-time Ramona resident, rocking back and forth stiffly in his seat before standing up, pulling a pellet gun from his waistband, holding the pistol in the air while jumping around and then pointing it directly at the mounted camera.
After the trolley arrived at the station and other passengers were evacuated, two San Diego police officers approached it, guns drawn. A body-worn camera worn by one them recorded images of Ramos sitting alone inside the tram, once again jerking forward and back in his seat.
Police say officers gave the man, later identified as Ramos, verbal warnings to drop what they believed was a pistol and was later confirmed to be a CO2 pellet gun designed to look like a Glock pistol, but the man ignored them.
Ramos then stood up, allegedly pulled his gun and raised it in the direction of the officers, prompting An officer, later identified as SDPD Officer Ruben Berton, to retreat and fire about 10 rounds from his service pistol at the suspect.
Paramedics treated the man for multiple gunshot wounds but he died at the transit station, SDPD said.
Per countywide protocol for police shootings, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department is investigating the shooting.
