FRESNO, Calif. (CN) — The mother of an unarmed teenager who was shot to death by Fresno police officers, sparking "white lives matter" protests, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city on Thursday.
Veronica Nelson claims in Superior Court that Officers Raymond Camacho and Robert Chavez had no reason to use deadly force when they shot her 19-year-old son Dylan Noble four times during a traffic stop on June 25.
A vigil in Fresno the day after the shooting escalated to a protest in which some people held "White Lives Matter" signs and brandished Confederate flags, garnering national media attention.
Some decried the message, an appropriation of Black Lives Matter, as racist and offensive, but Noble's friends told news outlets they were merely saying that Noble's life mattered.
The controversy brought more attention to Noble's death.
Police released an officer's body cam video of the killing. In it, one officer demands that Noble show him his right hand, but as Noble advances and then retreats from the other officer, he repeatedly puts his right hand behind his back. He refuses the officers' repeated demands to lie down, "or you're going to get shot, man." As Noble approaches the officer with the body cam, still with his right hand behind his back, that officer shoots him twice. As Noble lies on the ground, the officers continue ordering him to show them his hands, then shoot him two more times.
A bystander's cellphone video of the incident — depicting only the last two rounds fired by the officers as Noble lay wounded — sparked more outrage across the nation.
The police video includes the final two shots.
Nelson's attorney, Stuart Chandler, said in an interview that Noble would be alive today had the officers had used a Taser, beanbag gun or police dog to apprehend him.
The officers' decision to shoot Noble four times was "outrageous," Chandler said. "It just shocks the conscience."
Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer defended his officers, saying they believed Noble had a gun. He released the body cam video to show the whole picture, Dyer said at the time.
The incident began when Camacho and Chavez, responding to reports of a man walking in the area with a rifle, spotted Noble's speeding pickup. After initially failing to pull over for the officers, Noble pulled into a Chevron gas station, as can be seen in the video.
The rest of the video shows this:
One of the officers brandishes his gun on the steering wheel before pulling into the gas station and getting out of the car.
The officers yell at Noble to turn off the truck and repeatedly tell him to put both his hands out the window. Noble leaves the truck and retreats briefly, refusing to comply with a series of demands that he put his hands up and drop to the ground.
Noble walks toward the officers and reaches behind his back with his right hand.
The officers yell at Noble to drop whatever he has in his hand and warn him that if he continues to move forward he will get shot.