Suspect’s family sues over fatal Sacramento police shooting at apartments near Sac State

The brother of a gun-wielding man shot by Sacramento police at an apartment complex near Sacramento State in July filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the department late Monday alleging officers “executed” the man after he had been shot and was on the ground.

The suit was filed in federal court in Sacramento on behalf of Jimmy Southern, the brother of 22-year-old Jeremy Southern, a parolee at large who died after a confrontation with Sacramento police at The Crossings apartment complex in the 2900 block of Ramona Avenue.

“At the time of the incident he was on his way to visit his only biological sibling, his brother Jimmy Southern, when he suffered a mental health crisis,” the lawsuit says. “When Sacramento officers executed Jeremy, Jimmy lost the only family he had left in this world.

“He brings this suit, because it is the only avenue of justice that he can count on to hold the shooting officer accountable.”

The Oakland attorneys who filed the suit, Adante Pointer and Patrick Buelna, said at a news conference Tuesday morning at Sacramento Police headquarters that police violated their own policies by shooting Southern rather than continuing to try and de-escalate the situation.

They also said that after an officer fired the first rifle shot at Southern, hitting him in the abdomen, they waited for four minutes as he lay bleeding on the ground, then needlessly fired a second “kill shot.”

“Being in possession of a gun does not equal a death sentence,” Pointer said.

“This young man needed help. Instead of bullets, this young man needed assurances that it didn’t have to end this way.”

Jimmy Southern said the shooting came because police “decided that a scared young Black man didn’t deserve to live.”

Sacramento police declined to comment Tuesday, citing pending litigation. But six days after the shooting the department released video from three police body-worn cameras, cellphone video from a witness and 11 audio files of the incident showing Southern pointed a handgun at officers for 90 seconds while they ordered him 28 times to drop the weapon.

“Jeremy, drop the gun, it’s not worth it,” one officer says on the video. “Jeremy, drop the gun, we don’t want to shoot you.”

Police have said officers went to the apartment complex, where about 700 Sac State students live, to investigate a shooting that occurred there on July 15.

While they were there at about 2:15 p.m., they spotted Southern, a suspect in the shooting and a parolee at large they recognized from a distinctive neck tattoo. Southern was walking with a woman and police called out to him by name and ordered him to raise his hands.

Instead, Southern raised a handgun in his left hand as the woman stepped between him and police.

Officers, one in plainclothes, the another wearing a police vest, took cover behind a wall as Southern pointed the handgun at them. One officer can be heard noting there are people in the apartment complex lobby behind Southern.

A police statement on the incident says Southern can be heard on one of the videos saying “Imma die today” and “I’m not going back.”

As officers tried to convince Southern to drop the weapon, another officer ran to the scene with a rifle and declared, “I’m going to take a shot.”

That officer fired, and Southern fell to the ground, with the handgun dropping to the ground.

Police say Southern then moved toward the weapon. “Witness video also captures the voices of other subjects who see the same movement, and yell for Southern to stay on the ground,” the department said in July.

The officer with the rifle can be heard saying, “If he crawls forward, I’m taking a shot again.”

The officer fires again about seven seconds later, and shortly after that eight officers carrying ballistic shields approach and begin offering medical assistance to Southern, who later died of his wounds.

The lawsuit contends the original police strategy was working and the rifle shots, particularly the second one, were unnecessary.

“In a show of restraint, the officers utilized proper de-escalation techniques by communicating to Mr. Southern ‘drop the gun,’ ‘it’s not worth it,’ ‘we don’t want to shoot you,’’ the suit says.

“The de-escalation proved effective as Mr. Southern never made any verbal threats, advance towards the officers or fired a shot.”

Pointer said that Southern posed no threat at that point and said he believes the officer should face criminal charges.

“That second shot as not only unnecessary, it was criminal,” he said.

The suit contends the officer with the rifle did not support the effort to de-escalate and that after he fired the first shot the handgun fell 10 to 15 feet away.

“Several minutes passed as Jeremy lay motionless on the ground,” the suit says. “At no point were efforts made to secure the gun that was 10 (to) 15 feet from him, detain the unarmed Jeremy, or extract the witness who was nearby and begged for officers not to kill Jeremy.

“As Jeremy regained consciousness, he began to slowly stir, first rolling over, and then pushed himself up off his chest with his arms. While facing no immediate threat and standing in a position of cover, an officer fired his high-caliber assault rifle into Jeremy’s back. Jeremy was unarmed, suffering from a gunshot wound to his chest and still 10-15 feet from the handgun when he was struck in the back.”

Buelna said police ignored a new state law that says officers cannot use deadly force unless it is necessary to prevent death or serious injury.

“They played the role of judge, jury and executioner, and that’s not the law,” Buelna said.

BLM Sacramento founder Tanya Faison accused the department of ignoring its own policies that are designed to avoid such outcomes.

“Sac PD knows how to de-escalate, they chose not to de-escalate,” she said. “They chose to kill him.”

Police said the handgun recovered from the scene was found to be loaded with nine rounds.

This story was originally published September 1, 2020 at 7:48 AM.