SAN DIEGO —
The mother of a mentally ill man who was fatally shot after he slipped out of custody and ran from sheriff’s deputies outside the downtown San Diego jail filed a federal lawsuit Monday, alleging excessive force and wrongful death.
Nicholas Bils, 36, was shot after he leapt from a park ranger’s car and sprinted up a sidewalk in the early evening of May 1.
His mother, Kathleen Bils, is suing several people and entities, including the County of San Diego, Sheriff Bill Gore and Aaron Russell, the deputy accused of firing the fatal shot.
Nicholas Bils, 36
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Russell, 24, has been charged in San Diego Superior Court with second-degree murder. His is the first case brought since the state law changed in January to raise the standard for when officers can use deadly force. It is permissible only when “necessary,” when a life is in imminent danger and nonlethal methods are not available, the law states. Previously, deadly force had been allowable when “reasonable.”