A 32-year-old Los Angeles police officer who suffered fatal neck injuries during a department training last month had been getting beaten by other officers in an exercise meant to “simulate a mob,” according to a wrongful-death claim filed against the city by his mother.
Officer Houston Tipping suffered a spinal cord injury during the May 26 training at the police academy in Elysian Park and died three days later. He was laid to rest Wednesday during a large funeral attended by LAPD Chief Michel Moore, other police leaders and Mayor Eric Garcetti.
Tipping’s mother, Shirley Huffman, attended the funeral but did not speak at it. She filed her notice of claim against the city Friday, alleging wrongful death, assault and battery and other civil rights violations. Such claims are often a precursor to lawsuits.
