FAMILY SUIT SAYS POLICE KILLED THEIR PATRIARCH

LOS ANGELES -- A lawsuit filed Wednesday for the survivors of a police
shooting victim tells a story of death and terror inflicted on a
family by mistake.

According to the wrongful death suit, El Monte SWAT officers in
camouflage and black ski masks shot their way into the Compton home of
Mario Paz just before midnight Aug. 9 and shot the 65-year-old
grandfather in the back as he kneeled beside his bed.

His widow, Maria, said that as she was handcuffed and led outside she
heard an officer say, "I think we hit the wrong house."

The lawsuit, which seeks substantial damages for the Paz family, names
the cities of El Monte and Compton as defendants along with El Monte
Sgt. George Scott Hopkins, who shot Paz.

"At the time the shots were fired Mario Paz Sr., clad only in his
underwear, was kneeling beside his bed with both hands resting on top
of the bed," said family attorney Johnnie Cochran.

El Monte police raided the Paz home in an investigation of an alleged
drug trafficker who once lived next door to Paz. Police shot the locks
off the doors and stormed in.

According to police, three pistols, a .22-caliber rifle and $10,000 in
cash were found in the house. But the raid yielded no drugs, no
arrests and no charges.

Cochran said the money indeed was on the bed because Paz thought the
intruders were robbers and was offering them the cash in an effort to
save his life.

Paz's daughter, Maria Derain, told reporters her father withdrew the
money from a Tijuana bank that day because he feared Y2K computer
problems might wipe out his savings.

The guns, she said, were kept by the family for protection.

"Mario Paz Sr. posed no threat of any kind to Hopkins or any other
individual," said Cochran. "The shooting of Mario Paz Sr. was
unjustified. In my 37 years of practicing law this case is one of the
most egregious I've ever seen, an outrage for everyone."

There was no comment by El Monte officials.

"We have not seen the lawsuit yet and we cannot comment," said John A.
Pilger, spokesman for the city of 112,000 a dozen miles east of Los
Angeles.

The shooting is being probed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's
Department, the U.S. Justice Department and the regional director of
the U.S. Civil Rights Commission.

Paz's widow, daughter and other family members looked on as Cochran
detailed the lawsuit's claims, which include civil rights violations
and negligence in hiring, training and retaining police officers. He
said they hope there will also be indictments of police officers.

"This family had no drugs. This family represents families in this
community. If this family can't be safe, no one can," Cochran said.

Paz's widow, daughter and four sons gathered to pray before the news
conference, he said.