Police Department Sued For Fatally Shooting Unarmed Man

Excessive force, big time

The mother of a man killed last year by a Port Hueneme police officer has filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit, alleging authorities reacted improperly when they fatally shot her unarmed son and left him for dead.

Eileen Ramirez of Oxnard claims police acted negligently in the death of Jose Luis Ramirez, 18, who was shot in the head, a lung and a pinkie finger on Nov. 19, 2011 in the 900 block of Redwood Street in Oxnard. Ramirez died five days later at the Ventura County Medical Center of a gunshot wound to the head, officials said.

The suit was filed last month in U.S. District Court against the cities of Port Hueneme and Oxnard, the Port Hueneme and Oxnard police departments and the officers involved. Eileen Ramirez is seeking unspecified damages. The suit claims Ramirez's civil rights were violated and accuses officers of using excessive force and of acting with deliberate indifference to his medical needs. It also claims the departments were negligent in their hiring and training standards.