Lawsuit filed by twin brother of man killed in Long Beach police shooting dismissed

A lawsuit filed by the twin brother of a man fatally shot by Long Beach police responding to a takeover-style robbery in 2012 was dismissed Tuesday.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael P. Vicencia dismissed the suit filed by Donte House, finding that police use of deadly force was reasonable. House’s brother, Jonte House, was one of three men suspected of robbing a 24-hour Rite-Aid, 4402 Atlantic Ave., just after 1 a.m. Aug. 8, 2012. He was shot by two officers investigating the robbery and died at the scene, according to Los Angeles County Coroner’s officials at the time.

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Donte House represented himself in court. He could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The city, as the prevailing party in the lawsuit, is entitled under Califoia law to have House pay its defense costs in the case, according to City Attoey Charles Parkin’s office.

“This was a good result for the City,” Parkin said, in a statement. “Our police officers reacted to a life-threatening situation, and the court found they acted reasonably.”

The shooting

Jonte House and his accomplices were armed with handguns when they took cash from registers inside the Rite-Aid and robbed a customer in the parking lot, according to police officials at the time.

Officers chasing the suspects’ gray Toyota Camry believed they were being shot at and bullet casings recovered by investigators appeared to support their account, authorities said after the shooting.

The officer-involved shooting happened at the end of the chase when House and his accomplices got out of their car, police said.

He disobeyed officers’ commands to keep his hands up, instead lowering them to waist, Parkin’s office said.

House was the only suspect killed during the shooting. A second man was wounded in the lower body and taken into custody. The third suspect — described as a black man in his 20s, medium height and thin build; wearing a long sleeved, white shirt and dark camouflage shorts with a stripe at the bottom — remains at large.

The investigation into the third suspect is ongoing, said Nancy Pratt, a Long Beach police spokeswoman, in an email.

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