Facts

Barbara Williams and E. Paul Williams, individually, and as successor-in-interest of Bartholomew Williams, sued the Board of Trustees of California State University, Jimmie Brown, Leandre Fields, Helen Skaggs, and Matthew Verhulst, in connection with the shooting death of a student.

Plaintiffs' son, Bartholomew Williams, was a 38-year old graduate student who suffered from bipolar disorder.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiffs' claimed that on Dec. 8, 2012, their son experienced confusion and distress. In response to a disturbance call, three officers went to Bartholomew's dorm room when a struggle ensued. Plaintiffs claimed that police officers repeatedly sprayed him with pepper spray and beat him over 40 times with their batons. The officers then shot at Bartholomew, killing him.

Plaintiffs sued defendants, asserting claims of unreasonable use of deadly force, civil rights violations, disability discrimination, wrongful death, and negligence. Plaintiffs also claimed that the CSU San Bernardino Police Department officers were inadequately trained on how to interact with mentally ill students in distress.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS:
Defendants contended that Williams initially agreed to speak with a doctor about his issues. However, a struggle ensued when the officers attempted to transport him to a hospital for psychological evaluation.

Defendants denied plaintiffs' allegations, and asserted various affirmative defenses. Defendants contended that the officer's actions were justified as a result of Bart Williams' alleged violent actions towards the responding officers, including stomping on the head and chest of an officer and using pepper spray against officers. San Bernardino County District Attorney's independent investigation of the incident concluded that the officers' actions amounted to self-defense and defense of others in light of Bart Williams' violent actions towards the officers.

Result

The parties reached a $2.5 million settlement. In addition to the monetary relief, defendants also agreed to institute policy changes with respect to its crisis intervention policies, including requiring police officers to undergo a minimum of 32 hours of Crisis Intervention Training.