Parents of man slain in Pasco file federal lawsuit

The parents of an unarmed orchard worker shot to death by Pasco police last year have filed a federal court lawsuit contending the officers used excessive force in the case.

Agapita Montes Rivera and Jesus Zambrano Fernandez, who live in Parotita, Mexico, filed the lawsuit Wednesday in U.S. District Court for Eastern Washington.

Named as defendants were the city of Pasco, police Chief Robert Metzger and the three police officers who shot Antonio Zambrano Montes, 35.

The Feb. 10 shooting of Zambrano-Montes, a Mexican national, was captured on cellphone video that went viral and sparked weeks of peaceful protests in Pasco. The orchard worker was shot numerous times as he threw rocks at police at a busy downtown intersection.

“It’s obvious that 17 shots, resulting in seven to eight bullet wounds in a man who was first fleeing and then attempting to surrender, was excessive in the extreme,” said attorney Charles Herrmann of Seattle, who filed the lawsuit.

Franklin County Prosecutor Shawn Sant did not return a telephone call seeking comment.