Witnesses say Pedro Garcia, 19, had his hands up when fatally shot by Fullerton police, lawyers allege

Family members of a 19-year-old man fatally shot by Fullerton police have filed a legal claim over his death, their lawyers saying witnesses saw him with his hands up as officers opened fire and disputing an allegation by police that he was armed. 

"Nothing that I'm going to do for him is going to bring back my son," said the mother of Pedro Garcia, Gabriela Ordones-Campos, as she spoke before reporters Wednesday, tears filling her eyes. "But I just want justice now. I just want justice now."   

Garcia's family filed a legal claim filed against the city of Fullerton Tuesday alleging wrongful death and violation of civil rights in the deadly shooting. The claim states officers unjustifiably used excessive force when they shot and killed Garcia last month and says he was unarmed, despite police alleging Garcia was armed with a pellet gun at the time of the shooting. 

"We are calling on Attorney General Rob Bonta to investigate because, at this point, we feel it's an unarmed, totally unjustified shooting," said Michael Carrillo, an attorney for the family. 

He also demanded police release body cam footage of the shooting immediately and conduct DNA testing on the pellet gun police allege Garcia took out from his waistband before being shot. 

Carrillo said no witnesses to the shooting reported seeing Garcia with any weapon.

The California Department of Justice defines a pellet or BB gun as a deadly weapon when investigating police shootings of unarmed civilians, which means cases that involve them do not typically qualify for investigation by the state Attorney General. Meanwhile, such cases do qualify for investigation by the AG — under the state law AB 1506 — when they involve replica guns.

Alexandra Duquet, press secretary for the California Department of Justice, said the state will not be investigating the March 15 fatal shooting after determining it does not qualify as a police shooting involving an unarmed civilian. 

The Fullerton Police Department said the Orange County District Attorney's Office responded to the shooting to conduct an independent investigation. Police said they will release any relevant video in a critical incident report as required by state law.

The night of the shooting

On March 15, Garcia was at a family party when he got into a dispute with other family members that led to his brother calling police to the home, according to Carrillo, his family's lawyer. In a statement, the Fullerton Police Department said the 911 call came in at 11:51 p.m. that Saturday night and the caller reported his brother had swung a knife at his father. 

What happened after officers arrived is where the account given by police doesn't match up with what Garcia's family and their lawyers say happened. 

Carrillo said attorneys gathered information from family members and neighbors who witnessed the shooting and collected footage from a nearby Ring camera showing the aftermath. 

"When officers arrived, his mom told the officers he was unarmed — he doesn't have a knife, he has nothing in his hands," Carrillo said. "We have multiple bystanders who have told us that when Pedro Garcia was shot and killed by Fullerton Police Department officers, he had his hands up." 

Carrillo alleged officers fired around 20 to 30 shots, continuing to shoot Garcia once he was on the ground. Fullerton police officials have said Garcia was armed with a pellet gun, releasing a photo of one they say was recovered from the scene. 

In a statement released a day after the shooting, the Fullerton Police Department alleges Garcia "was uncooperative with the commands given to him." The statement does not indicate whether or not his hands were up when officers opened fire.

"At one point, the suspect abruptly lifted his shirt and removed what appeared to be a handgun from his waistband. An officer involved shooting then occurred," the police statement says, adding that a pellet gun resembling a handgun "was located at the scene in close proximity to the suspect."

Garcia was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Carrillo said family members had taken the knife from Garcia before officers arrived. He said that even if Garcia had not been fully cooperating, he did not pose an imminent and deadly threat to officers, which would have legally justified the deadly shooting. 

"Noncompliance doesn't mean you get shot and murdered," Carrillo said.

He told reporters Wednesday that he and Garcia's family are "disputing the police's version of events."  

"He had a long life ahead of him"

Garcia was a 2023 graduate of Fullerton High School who worked in construction with his step-father in Los Angeles. He enjoyed spending time with his girlfriend and friends, playing video games and listening to music, according to family members. 

Juan Garcia, his older brother, said he and his younger brother would "mess around" with each other at home and go on snack runs.

"Unfortunately, you know, I don't have someone to poke me from the back while I'm gaming or anything," he said as his voice broke. 

"He was a good kid," he said. "I think the way all this went down was something that we did not expect... He had a long life ahead of him —  things he was going to learn from work to school."

"This was a good soul that was unfortunately taken from us the wrong way," he said.

Earlier, Ordones-Campos had told reporters her family made the decision to "trust in the police" when they called officers to the home the night he died. "This thing was never supposed to happen," she said. "Everything is wrong."

Her son later said his mother had always put "so much trust into the community and into the police force."

"I don't care how long it's gonna take. I don't care how many people have... to be prosecuted for this. I don't care how long," he said. "We're gonna get justice."

Currently, two deadly police shootings of unarmed civilians involving the Fullerton Police Department are under investigation by California Attorney General Rob Bonta's office. A total of 45 cases are currently under investigation statewide.

Fullerton has a population of 143,617 people while the entire state of California has a population of 39.5 million, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data from 2020. 

The Fullerton Police Department previously said footage, records and images of the shooting will be released within 45 days of the incident, in accordance with state law.