Family Wants Officers Charged with Murder in Sacramento Shooting

A mentally ill homeless man was killed on July 11 by two Sacramento police officers. Now, his family wants to see murder charges brought against the officers involved.

Joseph Mann, 50,  was reportedly acting erratically and had a gun in his possession during the fatal incident.

As Officers John Tennis and randy Lozoya arrived at the scene, they attempted to hit Mann with their police cruiser twice. As soon as they spot him, Tennis says to Lozoya, “F— this guy. I’m going to hit him.”

Lozoya responds, “OK, go for it. Go for it.”

As the officers speed toward Mann further down the street, one officer says, “We’ll get him.”

This is abhorrent behavior, and many in Sacramento, both within the department and without, are taken aback at the callous nature with which these officers speak of taking a human life.

“Forget whether they were joking around or serious. In either case, it’s absolutely unacceptable,” said Geoffrey Alpert, a criminology professor at the University of South Carolina.

Both officers are 25 year veterans of the department, and they are both still employed.