Wilver Blanco’s Family Wins About $11 Million in LAPD Shooting Lawsuit

A Los Angeles civil jury awarded approximately $11 million to the family of Wilver Blanco, who was fatally shot by Los Angeles Police Department officers during a mental health crisis in South Los Angeles in 2024. The shooting happened less than 20 seconds after officers made contact with the 42-year-old.

Jurors deliberated for just over four hours across two days before finding against the City of Los Angeles and officers Stefan Carutasu and Dominique Billew. They rejected the officers’ assertion that lethal force was unavoidable when Blanco moved toward them with a folding knife.

The encounter began on the afternoon of May 19, 2024, in the Broadway-Manchester neighborhood. A 911 caller reported that a man suspected of being under the influence of narcotics was chasing an elderly resident while armed with a knife. Carutasu and Billew were sent to the 100 block of West Colden Avenue.

Blanco, who was 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighed 136 pounds, was crouched near a parked vehicle when the officers arrived. He repeatedly struck and slashed at the space beneath its front bumper. The officers positioned their patrol car and took cover behind its open doors, with their service weapons drawn.

Trial evidence showed that the officers immediately shouted commands for Blanco to drop the blade. They did not first pause to establish a perimeter, coordinate a tactical response or request specialized mental health intervention units. Within seconds, Blanco stood and advanced toward the squad car. The officers fired a combined seven rounds, and Blanco fell onto the roadway about 20 feet away.

The family’s wrongful-death lawsuit argued that officers failed to recognize Blanco was experiencing an acute psychiatric breakdown and escalated force without first attempting de-escalation. It said his size and position did not justify an immediate lethal response and challenged the failure to use non-lethal or less-lethal options, including 40mm sponge-round projectile launchers commonly assigned to patrol units.

After the verdict, Christian Contreras, the lead trial attorney for Blanco’s family, said the officers acted as “judge, jury and executioner.”

“The officers claimed that Mr. Blanco was going to kill them to attempt to justify this shooting, but the jury disbelieved the officers and awarded the family fair and reasonable compensation for their loss,” Contreras said.

The civil verdict differs from the LAPD’s internal findings. After an investigation by the department’s Force Investigation Division, LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell and the civilian Board of Police Commissioners concluded that the officers had acted within departmental use-of-force policy, finding that the edged weapon presented an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury.

Carutasu’s conduct came under further scrutiny after Blanco’s death. One year later, the officer was involved in another fatal shooting: officers shot and killed 35-year-old Mario Sanchez after mistaking a mobile phone in his hand for a handgun.

The Blanco award adds to high-dollar civil judgments and settlements against the city over police responses to people experiencing psychiatric or behavioral emergencies. In a related landmark case, Los Angeles was ordered to pay nearly $24 million to the family of a military veteran fatally shot by LAPD officers in Canoga Park in 2017 after police mistook a metal bar he was holding for a machete.

Following the jury’s decision, Mayor Karen Bass announced that the city is initiating an independent, outside review of LAPD operational policies, crisis de-escalation protocols and emergency training procedures for encounters with people in psychiatric distress. The award remains subject to post-trial motions and potential reductions on appeal, and the Los Angeles City Council must formally approve it before funds can be disbursed.