Alleged robber's family files suit They contend deadly force wasn't needed to stop him.

[douglas9]

SOUTH BEND -- The mother and children of a LaPorte man fatally shot after allegedly robbing a bank two years ago have sued the city of South Bend and the two police officers who shot him.

The lawsuit, filed this week in South Bend's U.S. District Court, claims officers Joshua Morgan and Chris Slager had a "duty to protect" robbery suspect Brian Szuflita, 29, from the "use of deadly force."

On July 25, 2008, Morgan and Slager fired 16 shots at Szlufita, hitting him 11 times, after he allegedly robbed the 1st Source Bank branch at 3655 Portage Road.

After an investigation by St. Joseph County's Metro Homicide unit, Prosecutor Michael Dvorak concluded the officers had committed no crimes and were justified in the shooting. Szuflita had shown a bank teller a note saying he had a gun. And once Morgan and Slager chased him to a field behind a nearby church, Szuflita pulled out a knife and lunged at Morgan, despite both officers telling him to stop and get on the ground, Dvorak has said.

http://www.southbendtribune.com/article/20100828/News01/8280302/1052/News01&Template=printart

[Lasher]

1. The officers also had a duty to protect themselves from deadly force from Szuflita.

I'd have shot him if he lunged at me with a knife, particularly after I had warned him to stop.

[slampoet]

2. If you had gotten close enough for him to lunge you need to be retrained as a cop.

[Lasher]

3. Is that the training where they teach you to throw handcuffs onto a suspect from 50 yards away?

If that's the case then I guess you're right because I can't imagine how that would be done.

[slampoet]

4. How do you have your gun drawn and attempt cuffing?

[friendly_iconoclast]

5. Two cops. One cuffs, the other covers. n/t

[Lasher]

8. You get out cuffs, guy pulls knife, you drop cuffs, you haul out gun, you blow him away.

Five easy steps that should be easy to understand, even by people silly enough to ask such ridiculous questions.

[Supply Side Jesus]

9. Do us all a favor...

go to a citizen academy...or enroll in a police academy. Understand what a Law Enforcement officer's actions are in various situations. Instead of clearly illustrating to all, you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.

[X_Digger]

6. Play stupid games..

.. win stupid prizes.

Any moron with a knife who lunges at a pair of cops with guns drawn from 10 ft away should expect to be perforated.

[Recovered Repug]

7. Words of wisdom:

Don't bring a knife to a gun fight.