Family of man killed by police at Huntington Beach sports complex taking legal action

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (FOX 11 / CNS) - The family of a 29-year-old man killed by police in Huntington Beach is taking legal action over the use of deadly force.

The mother of Steven Schiltz announced Saturday that she is filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the Huntington Beach police department.

Schiltz was killed in an officer-involved shooting after he allegedly threatened families at a Huntington Beach sports complex while armed with a bat and a broken bottle.

The shooting occurred just before 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Huntington Central Park Sports Complex at 18100 Goldenwest St., the Orange County Sheriff's Department reported.

Schiltz allegedly was threatening to harm families during a soccer practice at the field and was chasing after children, a Huntington Beach police sergeant told reporters at the scene. It was when he approached a few families in the bleachers that the officer-involved shooting occurred, the sergeant said.

Two officers were involved in the shooting, which occurred in front of a crowd of about 200 where children as young as 10 were practicing different sports, the Orange County Register reported. No officers were injured.

Schiltz's mother told media she tried to get her son help before because he is mentally unstable and was in a psych ward as recently as last year.

The Orange County Sheriff's Department said their homicide detectives would be conducting an investigation into the shooting.

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