The man shot by a Kern County Sheriff's deputy in Tehachapi is planning on filing a lawsuit against the department after an incident review board ruled that the shooting was unjustified.
Stanley Severi, shot in the abdomen on the porch of his Tehachapi home by Deputy Gabriel Romo in December, still doesn't understand why the officer fired.
"I tried to explain to him that I needed to speak to my wife," Severi said in the presence of his wife and his lawyer.
"Then I showed him my phone, explained that I needed to talk to my wife to talk about what's going on...he took a few steps back, pulled out his gun and shot me."
According to Severi and his lawyer, Daniel Rodriguez of Rodriguez and Associates, Severi and his wife had called KCSO in hopes they would talk to their son, who had run away.
Deputy Romo responded to the home; Severi says that Romo told him there was nothing he could do because his son didn't commit a crime, and then left.
Severi says that Romo returned later that night, asking about his other child, and that Severi was shot during that interaction. KCSO said they had received a call from the child's mother about "keeping the peace"; Severi didn't know about that, and says he's not sure why Romo returned.
KCSO also said that Severi and Romo became involved in a physical confrontation after Romo attempted to detain Severi and Severi pulled away and reached towards his waist. KCSO says that Romo feared Severi might be armed, and that's when he fired.
However, Severi says there was no physical confrontation.
"There's no physical altercation there," he said. "There just wasn't. I'm pro-law enforcement, no reason to do something wrong."
The shooting was ruled unjustified by an incident review board on Thursday; it's only the 2nd KCSO officer-involved shooting to be ruled unjustified since January 2012. There have been 25 KCSO officer-involved shootings in that span.
RELATED: Review Board Rules KCSO Shooting Unjustified
Both sides agreed that after Severi had been shot, Romo applied medical aid and called for assistance.
Severi's lawyer says they will file a government claim soon. After that, they plan to file a lawsuit against the department if necessary.
