Public Safety

Jury awards Wilver Blanco’s family about $11 million in LAPD shooting case

The civil verdict followed a fatal 2024 encounter in South Los Angeles; any eventual payout could change through appeal or settlement.

Image credit: Benoît Prieur / Wikimedia Commons, CC0; archival 2022 Los Angeles civil courthouse photo

A jury awarded roughly $11 million to the family of Wilver Blanco, who was fatally shot by Los Angeles police during a 2024 mental-health episode, the Los Angeles Times reported September 24. The verdict came after jurors deliberated for a little more than four hours over two days.

What it means locally

Blanco, 42, was shot May 19, 2024, after officers responded to a report of a man chasing an older person with a knife in the Broadway-Manchester neighborhood. Police said Blanco ignored commands to drop a folding knife and ran toward the officers. LAPD leadership and the Police Commission later found the use of lethal force justified.

Blanco’s family argued in its civil lawsuit that officers should have used de-escalation tactics or less-lethal weapons. The Times noted that the jury award could be reduced on appeal and that any settlement would still need approval from city leaders. The accompanying CC0 photograph shows a Los Angeles civil courthouse in 2022 and is illustrative; it does not depict the trial or the people involved.

Full report and further details: Read original report →