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The family of a man fatally shot by a sheriff’s deputy in South L.A. last October filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit Thursday, alleging the deputy acted “recklessly” and with “deliberate indifference.”
The deputy who fired the shot believed the man was holding a gun. He was actually holding a black COVID-style mask.
Dana Mitchell Young Jr. had allegedly kidnapped a woman at gunpoint at around 3:30 a.m. She escaped, and after deputies caught Young following a short pursuit, deputy Kevin Walker opened fire from six feet away, according to a statement from the sheriff’s department.