Family of slain 19-year-old sues over California police shooting

FULLERTON, Calif. -- The family of an unarmed 19-year-old shot by California Highway Patrol officers says the shooting was unjustified.

The Los Angeles Times says a claim filed Tuesday contends that Pedro Villanueva wasn't an immediate threat.

Villanueva was shot on July 3 by undercover CHP officers investigating illegal street racing in Santa Fe Springs, a Los Angeles suburb.

After a five-mile chase, they followed a pickup truck into a dead-end street in Fullerton. Officers said they fired when the truck turned around and drove toward them.

An attorney says Villanueva and a man who was wounded didn't know the unmarked car was a CHP vehicle and feared for their lives.

The Times says the CHP deferred comment to the Fullerton Police Department, which declined to comment.