Family sues alleging excessive force in fatal Chicago police shooting in July

The family of a man shot and killed by police last month has filed a lawsuit against Chicago alleging excessive force.

Police fatally shot Terrell Eason on July 3 in the 4700 block of West Fulton in the Austin neighborhood, according to the lawsuit filed by the family’s attorney, Gregory Kulis. It says officers arrived in the area in response to a report of a man with a gun.

The lawsuit claims officers began to chase Eason, 33, and shot at him even though Eason did not threaten or shoot at them.

Filed Tuesday in federal court on behalf of Eason’s mother, Alice Eason, the lawsuit also alleges wrongful death and accuses Chicago of allowing an unconstitutional, unwritten custom that leads to police shootings during foot pursuits.

Bill McCaffrey, a spokesman for the city’s Law Department, said on Wednesday, because the office hadn’t yet received a copy of the suit, he cannot comment.