The family of a man killed by Philly police has sued, saying officers ‘unreasonably fired’ their guns at him
Curtis Smith Jr. was fatally shot by police on the 2200 block of North Camac Street in North Philadelphia last May.
The family of Curtis Smith Jr., who was shot and killed by Philadelphia police officers last year, has sued the city, saying the officers “unreasonably fired” their guns at him during a foot pursuit and physical struggle.
Smith, 33, was fatally shot on the 2200 block of North Camac Street in North Philadelphia last May after police said he ran away from two officers who had seen him rifling through a car they believed to have been stolen. Police said the officers shot at Smith after he had twice opened fire toward them with a handgun he was carrying: first while running from the car, and then after getting into a struggle with one of the officers who caught up to him.
Police said it was not clear which of the officers’ bullets had struck Smith, or whether he had been shot during the first or second instance of gunfire. But officials said he was struck seven times before being taken to Temple University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A police spokesperson said at the time that the incident had been captured on both officers’ body cameras. The department has not released the footage and did not identify the officers until Tuesday, when a spokesperson said they were Officers John Boyle and Brendan McFadden, both assigned to the 22nd District.
In the lawsuit, filed in Common Pleas Court in Philadelphia, Smith’s family says that he “did not pose any threat at all to any police officers or the community at large” before he was shot and that the officers’ use of force was excessive and unreasonable.
The suit names the city as a defendant, as well as the officers involved, though the Smith family’s attorneys said they had not been able to learn the officers’ names.
The attorneys, Michael van der Veen and Jerry Lindheim, did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday afternoon. Attempts to reach Smith’s relatives were unsuccessful.
A spokesperson for the city’s Law Department declined to comment on the suit.