A man who allegedly threatened to shoot his ex-girlfriend and was later shot dead by a San Diego police officer after fleeing with the couple’s child has accused the officer and the city of civil rights violations, including using excessive force. A federal lawsuit has been filed alleging violations.
Stephen Nuttall, 29, was shot in the Cholls View area of the city on the evening of May 19 after his ex-girlfriend called 911 after he allegedly broke into her apartment with a gun, all but gone when police arrived. Threatened to kill – and then ran away with his 11 companions. A one-month-old daughter, according to video from San Diego Police.
Shortly afterward Nuttall was shot multiple times outside a nearby apartment. Police said he has been charged with multiple felonies, including assault with a firearm, criminal threatening, child endangerment and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. He has pleaded innocent and is being held without bail pending a preliminary hearing.
Police later learned that he had dropped his weapon and was not armed when he was shot, officials said. The child was found safe nearby.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday claims Officer Robert Gladiz used his weapon “improperly and unjustly” even though Nuttall never presented a “credible threat of violence,” causing injuries that led to his death. The ability to move his legs became limited and he required a wheelchair.
“It’s a bad shooting. His back was towards the officer. There was clearly no gun,” attorney Douglas Hopson, whose company filed the lawsuit, said Saturday. “There are a lot of facts, a lot of circumstances that should have made it clear that Nuttall was not armed.”
Nuttall went to the apartment because she feared for her child’s safety, Hopson said, declining to elaborate. “He is there to collect his child because he believes in his mind that his child is in danger,” he said.
Police have said Nuttall was holding the child when she was shot, but Hopson said that is not true. The city of San Diego and police did not respond Saturday to messages seeking comment.
San Diego police previously released a 10-minute video of the incident that includes the 911 call, police efforts to find Nuttall and the shooting, which occurred at 10:27 p.m.
The 911 call is partially incomprehensible, but police said his ex-girlfriend opened his bedroom door when he threatened to shoot her. A man, identified as Nuttall, then grabs the phone, not knowing who is on it and that the police are on their way, and says, “If the police come to this door I’ll call everyone in here.” Will kill things. I promise. So you call 911, I’m killing people.”
When officers arrived, police said Nuttall ran away with the infant, and he was later found hiding in bushes near another apartment. Gladys’ body camera shows the officer ordering Nuttall to show his hands or he will shoot, just before the man walks out of the bushes and Gladys fires several shots.
The officer can be heard saying that Nuttall pointed the gun at him but did not see the child. Police later found the gun in the trolley station parking lot, where Nuttall had run while trying to escape police. In a video still, police highlighted what they said was an object in her right hand that Gladys may have mistaken for a weapon. The infant was found near Nuttall after being shot. Police said he was holding the girl under his left arm at the time of the shooting.
Although Nuttall had put her daughter down before the shooting, Hopson said, “hoping and praying it wouldn’t happen that the officers would start shooting at her.”
The shooting is being investigated by the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, which will be reviewed by the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office to determine whether criminal charges are filed against the officers, according to police video.
The investigation is being monitored by the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, while the Police Department’s Internal Affairs will look into whether any policies were violated. According to the video, a shooting review board will also evaluate the officers’ tactics.
According to the Sheriff’s Department, Gladys, a patrol officer, had been employed by the department a year and a half before the shooting.
The federal lawsuit seeks various damages and claims the shootings resulted from “policies, practices, and customs” that result in “unconstitutionally inadequate treatment for persons of (African) descent.”
Hopson said Nuttall was shot four times, once in each limb, and suffered nerve or orthopedic damage that left him wheelchair-bound. Hopson said he was hospitalized for more than a month after the shooting and is seeking his release on bond so he can receive better medical care.
The lawsuit was filed by Hannah Hopson, a California attorney who is a partner at the Hopson Firm, a Chicago law firm founded by her father, Douglas Hopson. Hopson said he plans to ask permission to participate in the case, although he is not allowed to enter the state bar here. Another attorney is representing Nuttall in the criminal case.
