BUFFALO, N.Y. — Exactly one year after Rafael "Pito" Rivera died after being shot multiple times by a Buffalo police officer, his family has filed a civil lawsuit.
The family's attorney, Steve Cohen, announced that suit was filed on September 12, 2019.
Rivera died on September 12, 2018 after officer Elmur Karadzhayev fired six shots. Police responded to the area of Plymouth Ave. and Massachusetts Ave. to investigate a report of a man with a gun. Shots were fired after a chase started. Surveillance video showed Rivera running away from police when he was shot at close range.
In the lawsuit, the family claims that Rivera's Puerto Rican ethnicity played a role in the officers' actions that night. In the complaint, the family alleges this caused the officers to believe that Rivera was a threat and justified them shooting him in the back and side as he ran away. The family also claims that officers did not administer first aid until they (officers) realized that the shooting was caught on a surveillance camera.
The city of Buffalo, the Buffalo Police Department, Officer Elmur Karadzhayev, and an unknown officer were all named as defendants in the lawsuit.
In December of 2018, Erie County District Attorney John Flynn announced that there would be no charges filed against Karadzhayev after a nearly three-month investigation.
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Police say Rivera refused to put down a gun before he was shot by police.
Buffalo police say they will not comment on pending legislation.