Friday, November 4, 2011

Federal probe sought in fatal shooting of man holding nozzle

Douglas Zerby
Family members, civil rights attorneys and community groups are planning to call Friday for a federal investigation into the shooting death of a 35-year-old man by Long Beach police officers who mistook a black water hose nozzle for a gun.

The planned news conference -- organized by the Long Beach Campaign to Stop Police Violence and Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, or ANSWER -- comes a day after the Los Angeles County district attorney's office cleared the two officers.

The district attorney's office concluded that Long Beach Police Officers Victor Ortiz and Jeffrey Shurtleff acted lawfully in self-defense when Douglas Zerby pointed what they thought was a handgun at them.

Brian Claypool, attorney for Zerby's family, said the officers should have been prosecuted for negligent homicide. He said the officers did not identify themselves as police officers, nor did they order Zerby to put down the water hose nozzle.

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