A wrongful death and excessive force lawsuit has been filed against three Brownsville police officers and the City of Brownsville in connection with a June 2019 officer involved shooting that left one man dead.
The lawsuit was filed by the mother of Mark Anthony Galvan, 20, who died June 17, 2019 after being shot several times by the police officers after he allegedly rammed his car into police cars.
The shooting occurred after police responded to a call of an assault and tried to stop a vehicle driven by Galvan.
According to a police report, the incident began after police were called to an assault that occurred during the early morning hours of June 17 at the 400 block of Gilson Road in Brownsville.
Galvan, who would have been charged with aggravated assault on a public servant, evading arrest and assault (strangulation) family violence, died at 3:32 a.m. at Valley Baptist Medical Center from gunshot wounds to the chest, a July 2019 custodial death report read.
The lawsuit states that “utilizing deadly force on a suspect attempting to flee is excessive, since it is more force than is reasonably necessary to effectuate an arrest. Mr. Galvan suffered harm, to wit death, as a result of numerous gunshots fired at him by these officers.”
Another portion of the lawsuit states that Galvan was killed by the officers because of their “wrongful acts, neglect carelessness, and unskillfulness.”
Sandra Mendez, Galvan’s mother is seeking compensatory, punitive and exemplary damages in amounts to be determined by a jury.
An initial pre-trial conference is scheduled for Sept. 23.
In response to the lawsuit, BPD said “This is still an ongoing investigation and it’s collective effort between the (Cameron) District Attorney’s Office, Texas Rangers and the Brownsville Police Department. We will have to await the outcome of the lawsuit.”
