Shooting Victim's Family Sue Fremont Cops

Their man is dead, but his fight lives on. In court.

The family of Juan Mosso, a 30-year old man shot and killed by Fremont cops during a June 13, 2010, altercation, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The 2:30 a.m. fatal shooting began when Mosso's estranged wife, Miramar Perez called cops to tell them that she'd been kicked out of his Fremont apartment. Cops forced their way into Mosso's home, believing that he'd threatened to hurt his wife. When they got inside, they found Mosso armed with a knife. They shot and killed him, the newspaper reported.

In a twist, it was Perez, the ex-wife, who said in court filings that she never said she was in danger, and that cops had cooked up a story after the fact to justify killing Mosso, who received a shotgun blast in the chest and pistol shots in his lower back and arm, accordng to the lawsuiit.

Three officers are named in the suit as well as the city of Fremont. "This appears to be a case of police overreaction and a violent cover-up," said Perez's attorney, Edwin Bradley.