Family of man killed by OPD officers last year sues the city

The family of a man fatally shot by two Orlando police officers last year is suing the city, claiming excessive force and wrongful death in a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday.

Eric Provost was killed in January 2016 at his condo at Courtney Landing, near Lee Vista Boulevard. His family is asking for $5.5 million, according to the lawsuit.

Officers went to Provost’s home after his father called police and told them his son said someone was trying to break into the condo.

Police said Provost opened the door and pointed an airsoft gun — a nonlethal weapon that looks real — at the officers.

Officers told him to put down the gun, but he didn’t, they said. Officers Sonja Saunders and Tino Cruz shot at Provost, who fell to the floor.

A neighbor, a military veteran, came out with a gun, but he put it on the ground when asked, police said. Saunders told the Florida Department of Law Enforcement that Provost got up and started running toward her and toward the neighbor’s gun. She shot Provost dead.

The Orange-Osceola State Attorney’s Office cleared the officers of any wrongdoing.

The lawsuit paints a much different picture. Citing neighbors, it says the officers never gave any verbal commands to Provost before opening fire.

After the initial shooting, Provost got up after a few minutes and began running toward Cruz with “his hands up near his head,” the lawsuit alleges.

Saunders told Provost to stop and then shot him several times, according to the lawsuit. Cruz also fired, documents state.

The lawsuit alleges that neither officer used a nonlethal weapon such as a Taser despite not seeing any weapon on Provost before the second set of shots.

“With utter indifference and conscious disregard, defendants failed to use less than lethal force and/or tactics which would not have resulted in the death of Eric Provost,” according to the lawsuit.

Michelle Guido, a spokeswoman for the Orlando Police Department, pointed to the State Attorney’s decision, which came after a the FDLE investigation.

An internal affairs investigation also cleared the officers.

Guido would not comment further.