The complaint filed Friday in San Diego federal court by the parents of 32-year-old Bradley Munroe states their son was having a mental health episode and was hampered by orthopedic boots on both feet when he was shot six times by Chula Vista police Officer Alphonso Perdomo.
Last month, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office issued a review of the shooting, in which the office concluded Perdomo would not face criminal liability.
The D.A.’s Office said Munroe was holding a knife and ignored commands to get on the ground before advancing on Perdomo.
Munroe’s parents allege in their lawsuit that about one month prior to the shooting, Munroe stepped on broken glass at his home and due to his injuries, he was forced to wear orthopedic boots. He was also provided a wheelchair because it was difficult to walk with the boots on.
The complaint alleges those injuries were sustained while Munroe was experiencing a mental health crisis and that Chula Vista police also encountered Munroe one day before he was shot during another mental health episode. On that day, officers subdued Munroe with beanbag rounds and took him to a hospital for a psychological evaluation. Officers also told Munroe’s parents “that they could not keep coming to the Munroe’s home for Bradley’s
mental health crises,” according to the lawsuit.
One day later on Dec. 18, 2022, Munroe and his mother were at a shopping center off Broadway when Munroe began experiencing a mental health episode, the lawsuit states. He attempted to break the windows on his mother’s car with a pocketknife and begged her to get out of the vehicle because he said it was going to explode, according to the complaint.
The District Attorney’s Office said that after Perdomo responded to the shopping center, he repeatedly ordered Munroe to get onto the ground, then opened fire when Munroe moved towards him. The D.A.’s review stated Munroe “was within approximately two car spaces” when Perdomo began shooting.
Munroe’s parents allege Perdomo initially shot Munroe five times after Munroe “took two labored steps” due to the orthopedic boots he was wearing. The complaint alleges the sixth shot was fired while Munroe was on the ground and “posed no threat whatsoever.”
The complaint states, “The excessive force is evidenced by shooting Bradley Munroe five times when he was wearing an orthopedic boot on each foot and unable to ambulate without great difficulty and not able to ambulate with any speed, and shooting Bradley Munroe a sixth time while he lay helplessly on the asphalt parking lot suffering from the five prior gun shots to his body thereby rendering him unable to resist, advance, or pose any threat whatsoever to Defendant Perdomo or anyone else.”