Consumer Law
City Officials Say That a Black Man Shot by Police Pointed His Weapon First in a $50 Million Wrongful Death Claim
Authorities in Virginia Beach say a Black man fatally shot by police had pointed a gun at the officer who shot him.
The city’s version of events appears in a court filing in response to a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit filed by the man’s family earlier this year, The Virginian-Pilot reported Monday.
Donovon Lynch was shot by a Virginia Beach police officer in late March along the city’s oceanfront during a chaotic night in which 10 people were shot during separate incidents in a short period of time.
Police initially said a uniformed officer “encountered an armed citizen” and fatally shot him. The city’s legal filing on July 21 says the officer “feared for his life and the lives of other officers and citizens in the vicinity.”
