BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A claim filed against the city alleges Bakersfield police officers used excessive force in a January shooting that left a man armed with a rifle dead .
Filed last month on behalf of the minor children of Alejandro Avalos , who also went by the name Esmeraldo Martinez Vivanco, the wrongful death claim says the seven officers who fired “used excessive force and excessive deadly force.”
A claim is a precursor to a lawsuit against a government agency.
Police say officers responded to a ShotSpotter activation early Jan. 18 and were fired at by Avalos with a scoped rifle from inside a pickup on Chester Avenue near 13th Street. Officers fired back.
After the initial gunfire, Avalos was seen moving in the car, police say. More shots were fired. Avalos, 46, was declared dead at the scene.
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