Family Sues In Fatal 2016 Police Shooting Of Manchester Man

MANCHESTER, NJ — The family of a Manchester Township man who once called police and said he wanted a police officer to shoot him has filed a wrongful lawsuit against Manchester Township police and Ocean County SWAT team members involved in his 2016 shooting death.

Ely and Sherry Laniado, the parents of Michael Laniado, claim authorities knew Michael Laniado had psychological issues and failed to take appropriate actions to calm the situation and instead escalated it, resulting in the fatal shooting of their son. The lawsuit was filed Feb. 2 in federal court in Trenton.

The incident at Michael Laniado's home in Pine Acres Manor began about 11 p.m. on Feb. 5 when Manchester police arrived to serve an arrest warrant on Laniado's girlfriend, Shayna Palmieri for unpaid child support, according to a report by the state Attorney General's office, which cleared the officers involved in the shooting in June 2016.

The attorney general's office said Laniado, 27, refused to allow Palmieri to surrender and locked himself and Palmieri inside the home. Officers and the SWAT team tried for several hours to convince Laniado and Palmieri to come out, the report said, with Laniado throwing things out the window at them, including a makeshift spear. About 4 a.m. on Feb. 6, the SWAT team tossed in tear gas to force the two to come out. They ran out briefly but went back in, then came out a second time, with Laniado holding a knife and pulling Palmieri with him, the report said.

>> READ MORE: 'I'm Going To Get A Cop To Shoot Me,' Said Manchester Man Shot By SWAT Team: AG Report

As officers told him to drop the knife and surrender, Laniado threw the knife away but he and Palmieri still did not surrender. But then he pulled a second knife from his waistband. They fired "multiple less-lethal rounds," described as blunt-force projectiles that break apart on impact to avoid penetrating injuries, but Laniado charged the SWAT team members with the knife in his hand, and officers shot him, the report said. He was taken to Community Medical Center, Toms River, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said.

The lawsuit claims the officers lacked adequate training in handling someone with psychological issues and that they escalated the situation despite knowing Laniado had psychological issues that had been previously documented. There was an officer safety warning on Laniado's home because of prior incidents; the lawsuit claims police had called Ely Laniado in the past to help calm his son down, and that they did not do so during the 2016 incident.

The lawsuit does not give the details cited in the attorney general's report on the shooting of the 2014 incident where Michael Laniado had called the police department and said "I'm going to be famous … I'm going to get a cop to shoot me."

A neighbor who witnessed the incident told NJ.com at the time that the officers did not want to shoot Laniado and kept trying to talk him into giving himself up. "They kept saying, 'We just want to talk and we'll figure it out,' " the report quoted the neighbor as saying.

In addition to the Manchester Township Police Department and the Ocean County SWAT team, the lawsuit names the Ocean County prosecutor's office and the Berkeley Township Police Department.

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