Following the shooting death of a parent in Southern California by an off-duty LAPD officer, family members want to sue the city of Los Angeles.
On May 30, Los Angeles police officer Victor Corral, who was off duty at the time, and 37-year-old Hugo Cachua, the father of three small children, got into a fight and Cachua was slain.
After a reported fender incident at approximately 8:30 p.m., the two males got into a heated dispute, which led to the fight in Ontario near North Euclid Avenue and West 6th Street.
After both men got out of their cars, the altercation somehow turned physical. The two men were struggling on a neighborhood sidewalk when three gunshots were heard abruptly, as captured on dashcam footage from a passing car.
According to family members, Cachua was shot in the back while unarmed. According to the Los Angeles Times, Corral had been injured and on medical leave for approximately a year at that point.
Since Hugo’s passing, his family has been frantically looking for answers and calling for justice and accountability.
“I lost a big part of my life, my inspiration,” Luis Cachua, Hugo’s brother stated. “He can never come back, just because this guy took his life for no reason.”
“It started off as an altercation and it wound up as a murder,” Vangie Lozada, Hugo’s friend stated.
His family protested against police brutality outside L.A. City Hall on Tuesday night, announcing their intention to sue the city and Officer Corral.
“Hugo was shot multiple times,” Rene Daley, the family’s attorney stated. “He had at least six bullet wounds and the final one appeared to be a bullet wound that went through his head. The officer paused in between his shooting for that last shot.”
Although other witnesses said Hugo struck the police during the altercation, Daley maintains Hugo was unarmed. However, Hugo’s family is wondering why Corral was armed in the first place.
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“Nothing’s happening to them while our family suffers and grieves and they’re being protected,” Luis stated. “You take loved ones that mean the world to us, so we’re going to fight. We’ll never give up. You think your badge gives you the right to kill? No.”
The probe will be headed by the California Department of Justice. Corral, the implicated cop, has not been taken into custody. He went back to work in June.
