Mother of man fatally shot by Huntington Beach police plans to file $20-million lawsuit Friday

The mother of a 29-year-old man who was fatally shot by police at a Huntington Beach sports complex in March plans to file a federal civil-rights lawsuit Friday seeking $20 million in damages from the city, her attorneys said Thursday.

Angela Hernandez’s son, Steven Schiltz, was shot and killed by two Huntington Beach police officers on a soccer field at the Huntington Central Park Sports Complex on March 9.

Attorneys representing Hernandez said Thursday that they have scheduled a news conference for Friday afternoon outside the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Santa Ana to discuss the lawsuit.

The suit alleges wrongful death, excessive force and inadequate training on the part of the officers, as well as negligence and battery.

It also alleges that law enforcement failed to call for medical care for Schiltz in a timely fashion, resulting in his death.

“I believe that when all the evidence comes forth, it will be clear that the shooting and killing of Steven Schiltz was unnecessary, excessive and unreasonable,� attorney Dale Galipo, who is representing Hernandez, wrote in a statement Thursday.

Huntington Beach City Attorney Michael Gates did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment Thursday afternoon.

At the time of his death, Schiltz had been living in his mother’s Huntington Beach home. Hernandez said during a news conference after the shooting that her son was working in construction and at a local horse stable.

Police said at the time that they had responded to the complex at about 7:20 p.m. after receiving emergency calls about a man with a bat and a broken bottle hitting trees and chasing people around the fields.

Jose Sanchez, a club soccer coach who witnessed the shooting, said the fields were packed with children and families that night. He said he watched as Schiltz chased an adult baseball player onto the field where Sanchez’s girls’ soccer team was practicing.

Sanchez said two officers entered the field with their guns drawn and ordered Schiltz, who looked like he was about to swing at a woman sitting on the bleachers, to drop what he was holding. Sanchez said the object appeared to be a broken bottle.

According to Sanchez, officers fired three shots at Schiltz but he kept moving toward the woman. The officers fired three or four more rounds, Sanchez said.

Schiltz was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.

Hernandez’s lawsuit, however, presents a different view of the events that night.

Schiltz, who according to the document suffered from mental illness, was at the sports complex to play in a softball game sponsored by the Huntington Beach Adult Softball League, the suit states.

He was walking between fields in search of his team when one or more unidentified people beat him and attacked him with a knife, the complaint alleges.

Hernandez’s attorneys said they are still trying to get in touch with witnesses to the attack.

The suit says Schiltz was running from his assailants and was unarmed when officers opened fire.

“Steven’s mother is bringing this lawsuit to not only seek justice for her son, but in hopes of deterring this type of conduct and preventing other parents’ children from being killed,� according to a news release.

Documents filed in Orange County Superior Court indicate Schiltz had a rocky relationship with his family.

Hernandez filed for a restraining order against him in February 2013, alleging that he threatened her, his father and his older brother with knives, baseball bats, pool sticks, pool balls, chairs and other items.

Hernandez wrote in court documents that her son drank heavily and used medical marijuana daily.

“As a family we have tried numerous options to help him with his addictions and abuses, but he declines our advice and/or suggestions,� she wrote. “We are now at the point of seeking police protection because his abuses are escalating to levels that we can no longer accept or handle.�

Hernandez said during the news conference in March that Schiltz never touched her and was “all bark and no bite.�

Hernandez is seeking funeral expenses, burial costs, attorneys’ fees and other damages, according to the lawsuit.

The shooting was one of five involving Huntington Beach police officers this year.

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Twitter: @HannahFryTCN