Sacramento sheriff hit with pair of $100 million lawsuits over Carmichael shooting death

The family of a 25-year-old man shot to death by a Sacramento sheriff’s gang unit in Carmichael a year ago have filed a pair of federal lawsuits seeking more than $100 million in damages and alleging that deputies needlessly shot the man while he was sitting in a car with his hands up.

Kershawn Geyger, who sheriff’s officials said at the time was involved in a confrontation that led to the wounding of a deputy, died Jan. 15 in a car he had been driving with his brother, JW Geiger, near Ranger Way and Rampart Drive.

A lawsuit filed Wednesday by JW Geiger, whose family spells their last name slightly differently than Kershawn Geyger, says deputies pulled up to the brothers’ car in unmarked vehicles and ordered the pair to put their hands up.

“Geiger and Kershawn complied with the order and put their hands up,” according to the suit, filed by Los Angeles attorney Walter Mosley. “Then, the detective on the driver side discharged his firearm at Kershawn.

“After approximately three (3) or four (4) shots, the sergeant on the passenger side also began discharging his firearm. Kershawn was struck, including shots to his chest, causing Kershawn serious physical injury and eventually killing him.

“The detective first fired at Kershawn while he was seated in his car and as he raised his arms as instructed by the deputies.”

The lawsuit says that at the time deputies opened fire “there were no visible weapons in the vehicle,” deputies never gave a warning that they would use deadly force and neither man posed a threat.

After Geyger was shot, deputies warned his brother to remain in place in the car, the suit says.

“The deputy on the passenger side immediately told Geiger, ‘Don’t move or I’ll shoot you,’” the suit says. “This caused Geiger to remain still while looking directly at the floor of the car without moving while additional deputies arrived at the scene.

“While Geiger waited in the car looking at the floor of the passenger side of the car, he could only hear his brother grunting. Geiger was unable to see his brother from where he was.”

The Sheriff’s Office declined Thursday to comment on pending litigation.

Officials have said there is no Sheriff’s Office video of the incident, which occurred near Winding Way and Manzanita Avenue, because the unmarked vehicles used for surveillance that night did not have dashboard cameras, but authorities released a video re-enactment saying that deputies investigating an earlier shooting saw Geyger had a gun and yelled, “Gun! Gun! Gun!”

Officials said then that Geyger shot the detective, got out of the car with the gun in his hand and the detective, who had stumbled back onto the ground, returned fire.

“While on the ground, the suspect attempted to retrieve his gun and the detective shot additional rounds at the suspect to stop the threat,” sheriff’s Sgt. Rodney Grassmann said in a narration on the video.

Grassmann said Geiger had a firearm in his waistband at the time, and said his brother had a .40-caliber handgun on him at the time of the shooting.

The detective who was shot was a 16-year veteran who recovered after a hospitalization.

Court records show JW Geiger pleaded no contest to carrying a loaded firearm in public and was sentenced Dec. 20 to 180 days on the sheriff’s work project.

Members of the Geiger family and community activists at the time questioned details of the shooting, asking at a gathering outside a sheriff’s station last January why deputies fired if the two men in the car both had their hands up.

“From what I know from my own experience with law enforcement, when your hands are up, you’ve surrendered,” Geyger’s mother, Yaphette Geiger, told reporters at the time.

Activists also asked why the sheriff released information on Geyger’s criminal history, which included firearms violations and allegations of gang involvement.

Mosley, the attorney who filed the lawsuit on behalf of JW Geiger, also filed a companion lawsuit Wednesday on behalf of Geyger’s parents and his three minor children alleging unreasonable search and seizure and battery.

Both lawsuits seek in excess of $100 million in compensatory damages.

This story was originally published January 6, 2022 at 10:00 AM.