On Jan. 29, 2011, plaintiffs’ decedent Matthew Cicelske, 39, a former Marine who was unemployed at the time, was outside the residence of his ex-girlfriend and her mother, located at the 5400 block of Taft Avenue, in the Rockridge neighborhood of Oakland. The women reported to police dispatch that Cicelske was harassing them and carrying a fake rifle, but that he was having mental or emotional stemming from a serious bike accident and head injury, and that he needed help. Oakland Police Officers Katherine Evans and Adam Humphrey, and Sergeant Michael Beaver and others, subsequently responded to the complaints, but as they arrived, Cicelske ran and hid in the backyard. Soon thereafter, the police broadcast a canine warning and an order to surrender. A next door neighbor eventually came out to flag the police. As a result, the police ran into the neighbor’s house, where they looked out and saw Cicelske entering the ex-girlfriend’s house through a back door. The police quickly reformed in front of the subject ex-girlfriend’s house and started up the steps toward the front door, whereupon the ex-girlfriend’s mother ran out of the house. Cicelske then emerged from the front of the house holding the fake rifle, which the police took to be real. As a result, the officers standing on the stairs and/or at the base of the stairs unleashed both sub-lethal and lethal force against Cicelske. One officer fired a sub-lethal “bean bag” round at Cicelske from a shotgun, while Humphrey released a police dog that bit Cicelske. Evans fired the first bullets from a handgun, shooting Cicelske a total of 10 times. Humphrey then shot twice with a handgun and Beaver fired twice from a rifle, striking Cicelske at least once in the head. Most or all of the bullets struck Cicelske. As a result, Cicelske died at the scene. The decedent’s two brothers, Benjamin Cicelske and Justin Owens; and two minor children, Cameron Cicelske and Antonio Cicelske; as well as Anita Barone, acting individually and on behalf of the decedent’s estate, sued Evans; Humphrey; Beaver; the homicide detective who went to the scene after the shooting and was in charge of the investigation, Lieutenant Tony Jones; the Lieutenant who went to the scene after the shooting and was overseeing the investigation, Clifford Wong; and the officers’ employer, the city of Oakland. Plaintiffs’ counsel asserted that the officers knew or should have known through dispatch that the rifle was fake and that they grossly mishandled the incident and missed numerous opportunities to avoid a tragedy. Specifically, counsel contended that the officers failed to develop a tactical plan and communicate clearly with one another; failed to create a buffer between the decedent in the backyard and the women in the house (even telling the mother at one point to go back inside when she came out onto her porch); and failed to issue any specific surrender instructions with the canine announcement, as there was no obvious path to compliance since the decedent was behind a latched gate in the backyard at the time. Plaintiffs’ counsel further contended that the police failed to give their sub-lethal methods a chance to work. In addition, counsel asserted that the officers gave many different descriptions of how the decedent was moving and holding the fake rifle when he exited the house, all of which defied logic and believability, and that the officers allegedly never offered any explanation for shooting the decedent several times in the back and buttocks., Matthew Cicelske was struck was a “bean bag” round from a shotgun and was bitten by police dog before sustaining multiple gunshot wounds after 14 shots were fired. He was ultimately shot at least once in the head, as well as to his back and buttocks, among other areas. He ultimately died at the scene. Cicelske was 39 years old. He was survived by his parents, his two brothers, and his two minor sons. Thus, his family and estate sought recovery of wrongful death damages.