The family of a mentally ill 50-year-old man shot and killed by a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy at a Valencia shopping mall last year is suing the department, accusing the deputy of de-escalating the situation and failing to comply with sheriff’s requests. . Back up before the deadly shooting.
Relatives of Christopher Mercurio allege in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that Mercurio had mental health issues at the time of the Jan. 11, 2023, crash at Westfield Valencia Town Center. He claims that sheriff’s officials were not aware of the incident.
“Instead of sending a team to de-escalate the situation or calling in a psychological evaluation team, they sent a single police officer to deal with the situation,” the complaint states.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials did not immediately respond to the Times’ request for comment.
Body camera footage from the incident shows Deputy Lorena Gonzalez responding to the mall that night after authorities received a call about a transient sleeping inside the mall, according to the complaint.
Video previously released by the sheriff’s office shows the incident quickly escalated, with Mercurio approaching Gonzalez near the parking lot and then threatening him.
Christopher Mercurio died during an encounter with sheriff’s deputies in 2023.
(Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department)
“I’ll sleep here, and you can do whatever you want,” Mercurio said. “Either protect your fans or I’ll destroy you human, understand?”
Mercurio comments on Iran and China, calling himself “national security” before reaching out to Gonzalez.
In the lawsuit, Mercurio’s family says it was clear he had mental health issues.
In the video, Mercurio walks toward Gonzalez, while the deputy points a handgun directly at Gonzalez and tells dispatchers they are engaged. Mercurio appears to continue walking despite being told to stop and reaches toward Gonzalez.
“Please stay away from me,” she can be heard saying in the video. “I’ll shoot you, dude.”
“Shoot!” Mercurio was heard saying before Gonzalez fired his weapon twice.
The video shows Mercurio continued walking toward Gonzalez after the first shots were fired.
Mercurio was later pronounced dead at a hospital. Gonzalez was treated at a hospital and released.
The complaint alleges that Mercurio was unarmed at the time and did not threaten Gonzalez.
“There was no possible way [Mercurio] cause damage to the defendant [Gonzalez]” the lawsuit alleges.
Mercurio’s family is seeking an undisclosed amount of damages.
