From [HERE] CINCINNATI -- The family of a teen fatally shot last summer by police downtown have sued the officers involved in his death. The suit claims Officer Oscar Cyranek was told by another officer that some black teenagers had been seen with guns near the Black Family Reunion at Sawyer Point.
Cyranek saw 16-year-old Davon Mullins with a gun several few blocks away at Fountain Square, wrestled him to the ground and searched the teen, the suit says. According to the suit, Cyranek tossed aside the gun he found on the teen, drew his own service weapon and shot Mullins multiple times in the chest.
Cyranek then retrieved the discarded gun and placed it near to the teen's body before calling for assistance, the suit claims. Attorney Eric Deters is representing the teen's family, who claims that Cincinnati police have refused to produce any findings from their own investigation. Deters said he believes the department is hiding something.
Peters said he has asked the department for details related to the investigation several times. He claimed it has not been cooperative. "By filing this lawsuit, we will be able to secure their investigative report. The statement the officer gave to his supervisor …is what I'm most interested in," Deters said.
Cyranek's actions were captured on security camera videos, which have been posted on YouTube, and Deters said those videos back up the suit's claims.
Cincinnati Police Chief James Craig said shortly after the shooting that those videos support Cyranek's claim that Mullins was armed at the time of his shooting and that the teen had his finger on the trigger.
In an August interview, Craig said, "Davon held a 9 mm high-point semiautomatic handgun. He was holding the weapon with his finger on the trigger and attempting to move his upper torso and right arm to the left in a spinning motion. …The officer had no choice."
Cyranek told investigators he had no choice but to shoot the teen after Mullins refused to surrender his gun.
The teen's family has sued Cyranek and the officer who initially reported seeing the gun near Sawyer Park, saying they violated Mullins' civil rights and, as a result, wrongfully caused his death.
The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages, as well as reimbursement for funeral expenses and attorney's fees.