Maine's family files suit over 12-13 shots by Baltimore police

Slain Marine's Family Sues Baltimore, Officer

Officer Charged With Killing Tyrone Brown

BALTIMORE -- Relatives of an unarmed man shot to death by a Baltimore police officer last summer have filed a multimillion-dollar wrongful death lawsuit.

Police Officer Gahiji Tshamba has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Tyrone Brown, who was killed outside of the Eden Lounge in Mount Vernon on June 5.

The lawsuit named Tshamba, as well as his supervisors, police Commissioner Fred Bealefeld, Baltimore's mayor and City Council and the state of Maryland.

The lawsuit said Brown, who was with his sister and a friend, touched a female ahead of him in line while waiting to go inside the club. It said the woman expressed her displeasure, and that's when things began to escalate.

"Mr. Brown, who was home from Iraq, was trying to apologize and defuse the situation," said A. Dwight Pettit, the family's attorney. "The officer accosted him, identified himself as a Baltimore police officer, and shot at Mr. Brown approximately 12 or 13 times, killing him."

The lawsuit said Brown, 32, had his hands in the air and backed into an alley before Tshamba shot him at close range. It also said Brown's sister tried to intervene immediately before he was shot.
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Slain Marine's Family Sues Baltimore, Officer