Mother suing Dolton police officers who fatally shot her son

The mother of a man fatally shot by south suburban Dolton police officers last summer claims they used excessive force in a federal lawsuit filed Monday.

Donte L. Johnson, 30, of Blue Island, was fatally shot by police when two Dolton officers responded to a report of an armed robbery about 5 a.m. June 26, 2016 at a Shell gas station, 1445 E. Sibley Blvd., according to Dolton police and court documents.

Johnson was pointing a gun at someone outside the Shell station when the officers arrived, and then pointed the gun at the officers as they approached with their weapons drawn, police said.

Johnson was shot multiple times and pronounced dead at 5:18 a.m., the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.

The victim of the robbery was hit in the head by Johnson with the butt of his gun and received stitches at St. Margaret’s Hospital in Hammond, Indiana, police said at the time.

Johnson’s mother, Saqueena Easterwood, filed the lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court against the two officers and the village of Dolton. She claims the officers used excessive force in violation of her son’s civil rights when they shot him, according to the suit.

Easterwood claims Johnson did not pose a threat to officers, who recklessly discharged their weapons as he tried to run away, according to the suit.

Easterwood is seeking unspecified damages from the two police officers and the village of Dolton.