Jason Maccani, 36, was shot the afternoon of Feb. 3 inside a warehouse in the Skid Row area at Towne Avenue and 7th Street.
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LAPD released bodycam video of the shooting this week, which shows Maccani being confronted by seven police officers in a corridor of the building.
After initially complying with commands, footage shows Maccani drop his hands and move toward officers. A close-up of Maccani's hand shows him clutching an object that the officers said they thought was a knife.
In the video, two less-lethal rounds being fired can be heard, followed by one handgun round.
"The suspect continued to advance toward the officers with the object still clenched in his right hand," LAPD said in a statement on Feb. 4. "The suspect grabbed one of the officers and the Beanbag Shotgun she was holding, resulting in an Officer-Involved Shooting."
Maccani was given CPR and pronounced dead at a local hospital.
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The object in his hand was later determined to be a white plastic fork.
Officers responded to the area after receiving a call of a man armed with a stick who was reportedly intoxicated and threatening employees at the business.
The wrongful death claim alleges police had no good reason to shoot Maccani. Attorneys for Maccani's family say the plastic fork did not resemble a knife and that Maccani "never got close to taking possession of the officer's clearly marked beanbag shotgun."
The L.A. City Attorney's Office declined to comment on the family's pending litigation.
Maccani graduated from UCLA with a mechanical engineering degree, but recently worked as a yoga instructor and Uber driver.
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Maccani's brother Michael Maccani believes Jason was diagnosed as bipolar and suffered occasional episodes.
"He had access to mental health resources, but it doesn't stop those episodes from happening, and it shouldn't result in a death sentence," Michael Maccani said.
City News Service contributed to this report.