Family’s Lawsuit Accuses Police of Killing Teenager
A Stockton family whose teenage son died after a confrontation with police filed a lawsuit in federal court this week alleging that the city and its police officers violated the teenager’s civil rights.
The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, hinges on the charge that 17-year-old Sing Xiong did not shoot himself, as Stockton police contend. The family says Stockton Police Officer Jennifer Wertz shot Xiong to death.
Stockton police spokesman Doug Anderson said there is no validity to the allegations.
Xiong died of a gunshot wound to the head about 13 hours after a gun battle with police outside Plaza Robles Continuation High School on May 6, 1999.
Police say Xiong fired twice at Wertz, who was trying to break up an argument between the boy and his mother. Police say Wertz returned fire but missed, and then Xiong shot himself in the head.
The lawsuit charges that one of Wertz’s bullets struck Xiong and that he never had a gun.
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