Family of hostage killed by Los Angeles police files claim

LOS ANGELES — The family of a woman fatally shot by Los Angeles officers while firing at a man who held a knife to her throat filed a claim against the police department and the city, lawyers announced Wednesday.

Elizabeth Tollison's family, who filed the claim Tuesday, said at a news conference Wednesday that officers showed no regard for her life as she was briefly held hostage.

Police said they opened fire on Guillermo Perez on June 16 after he began cutting Tollison's throat outside a church that helps homeless people. Both Perez and Tollison, who were homeless, died at the scene.

But Brian Dunn, the attorney representing Tollison's family, said that a doctor told Tollison's son that she only had a cut on her cheek and that it was not life-threatening.

On June 16, police arrived at the church after a 911 call reported a man had stabbed his ex-girlfriend.

Perez ignored officers' commands to drop the knife before he grabbed Tollison, who was standing nearby, according to video footage from officers' body cameras.

Witnesses told police that Perez moved the knife in a "sawing motion against her throat and cut her throat," Cmdr. Alan Hamilton, who leads the unit that investigates police shootings, said in the video.

Three officers opened fire, shooting 18 rounds, killing Perez and Tollison.

Tollison's son, Jesse Pelaez, said at Wednesday's news conference that he thinks that "if the hostage was somebody important, the situation would have been handled differently."