Suit Filed Against LAPD in Halloween Shooting of Actor

A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against the Los Angeles Police Department and two officers in the controversial shooting of an actor who allegedly pointed a replica pistol at one of them during a Halloween party last year, attorneys said Monday.

The lawsuit filed by Tina Lee-Vogt, the sister of victim Anthony Dwain Lee, charges that the Benedict Canyon shooting was unjustified and an excessive response.

“This shooting should have never happened,” attorney Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. said at a news conference Monday. He said it was the result of poor judgment by the police officer who fired at Lee.

The lawsuit doesn’t specify the damages sought. But Lee-Vogt requested $100 million in a claim filed with the city in December.

Officer Tarriel Hopper and his partner, Natalie Humphreys, were responding to a noise complaint about 1 a.m. on Oct. 28 when Hopper fired nine shots at Lee, hitting him four times.

LAPD officials said Hopper fired after he shined his flashlight into a room from outside and Lee, 39, pointed a gun at him. The gun turned out to be a replica of a .357-caliber magnum. Police Chief Bernard C. Parks has said Hopper thought he was defending his life.

Cochran disputes that. “The physical evidence puts a lie to that,” he said. “He was shot in the back.”

The LAPD said Monday that the department’s in-house investigation of the shooting is continuing. Hopper and Humphreys are now assigned to administrative duties.

Lee-Vogt also said that after the shooting of her brother, police conspired to cover up the circumstances.

“My brother was not a fleeing felon,” said Lee-Vogt. “He was not a parolee at large. He was not a suspect with an outstanding warrant.”