Victim was 13 years old and playing with a pellet gun.
By Raif Karerat
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WASHINGTON, DC: The city of Los Angeles has agreed to pay a record $15 million to the family of a teenager who was paralyzed from the chest down in 2010 when he was shot by a police officer who mistook a pellet gun the child was holding for a lethal firearm.
Rohayent Gomez Eriza was 13 when he was struck by a single bullet while playing near his home with two friends, according to court documents.
His family filed a lawsuit in 2011, saying the teen was “subjected to excessive force” by police officer Victor Abarca in the form of a gunshot that left the boy with “serious and permanent physical and psychological injuries,” according to Reuters.
A jury had previously ruled in favor of Gomez Eriza’s family in 2012, awarding them $24 million, but the city appealed.
“This is a tragedy for all involved, but in particular for the young man injured in this police shooting and for the officer who believed that he was protecting himself and his partner from a real threat,” Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck said in a statement following the 2012 judgment.
A police spokeswoman said there was no immediate comment on the $15 million settlement when questioned on Wednesday.
Attorneys for Gomez Eriza have criticized the LAPD for deeming the shooting justified, and said the boys, who were ironically playing cops and robbers in a reportedly illuminated street, were not engaged in any illegal activity when they were stopped.
One this is certain, Gomez-Eriza’s life will never be the same for as long as he lives, and the LAPD won’t ever be able to mitigate taking away his ability to move freely.
“The money is nothing in life. It helps, but it’s not the important thing,” Gomez-Eriza told NBC Southern California in 2012. “Every time I go to school, I see my friends running, walking, playing soccer, what I used to do,” Gomez-Eriza said. “Can’t do that anymore. It’s sad.”