Family of Shoot-out Victim Files Claim

A $1-million claim against the City of Escondido, alleging that Robert Gary Taschner was the victim of a “summary execution” in a shoot-out with police in December, has been filed by his relatives.

The claim, the first step toward filing a lawsuit, declares that Taschner was “wrongfully and fatally shot” and was the victim of “excessive force, assault, battery and constitutional deprivation of liberty without due process of law.”

Taschner, 37, was killed in a flurry of gunfire by Escondido police and San Diego County sheriff’s deputies as he ran from his apartment on East Mission Avenue after a 12-hour standoff with authorities.

The plaintiffs--Taschner’s daughter, two brothers and his parents--allege they suffered “severe emotional distress as a result of observing the fatal shooting,” which was recorded by a television news crew. The video showed that Taschner was hit by a final shot while he was lying on the ground by an officer firing from point-blank range.

Earlier in the day, Taschner had shot and killed Deputy Lonny Brewer and wounded two other deputies.