[WATCH] Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy Shoots Man Over 17 Times and Then Stomps On His Head


An Orange County sheriff’s deputy who in 2013 continued to shoot a felled suspect and then stomped his head may be sued for using excessive deadly force, a federal appeals court decided Wednesday.

“When police confront a suspect who poses an immediate threat, they may use deadly force against him,” Judge Alex Kozinski wrote for a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. “But they must stop using deadly force when the suspect no longer poses a threat.”

In an unusual action, the court released the police videos of the fatal shooting, which can be viewed here and here. The shooting occurred three minutes into the first video and 3½ minutes into the second.

The court reached its decision in a lawsuit filed by the mother of Connor Zion, 21, who suffered seizures, bit his mother and cut her and his roommate with a kitchen knife, according to the court.

The Sheriff’s Department was called. When Deputy Juan Lopez arrived at the condominium complex in Laguna Niguel, Zion ran toward him and stabbed Lopez’s arms.

Deputy Michael Higgins, who arrived separately and saw the attack and shot Zion.

Video on the department dashboard cameras revealed that Higgins initially fired nine shots. Once Zion was on the ground, Higgins fired nine more times, emptying his gun.

Then Higgins walked in a circle, took a “running start” and stomped on Zion’s head three times, the court said the video showed.

The Sheriff’s Department later awarded Higgins a medal of valor for the action for saving his partner’s life, the Orange County Register reported.

Zion appeared to have been wounded and was not making threatening gestures after being fired upon at “relatively close range” and falling to the ground, the court said.

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