The family of 22-year-old Margarito Lopez Jr. filed a wrongful death lawsuit Monday against the city of Los Angeles and the two Los Angeles Police Department officers who fatally shot the man after his sister called 911 because she was afraid her brother might hurt himself.
Sonia Torres wanted help for her brother because she thought he was in the middle of a mental health crisis on Dec. 18. Lopez came home that day acting erratically, and when his father got him out of their restroom, Lopez pulled out a butcher knife and went outside.
When LAPD officers arrived in the South-Central neighborhood, they shot and killed Lopez.