Lawsuit Filed Against Battle Creek Over 2013 Shooting

The City of Battle Creek is now being sued, by the mother of a teen shot by police in 2013.

The lawsuit, filed by Patricia Nelson Tuesday, seeks damages of more than $75,000 from the city and the police officer for alleged use of excessive force and possible violations of the constitutional rights of her son, Nicholas King.

King, who was 14 at the time, was shot in the shoulder by Officer Esteban Rivera in November 2013.  Rivera had been responding to reports of a man with a gun near a party store, and the city says that when the officer ordered King to put his hands up, King pulled what appeared to be a gun out of his waistband.

The gun turned out to be a toy, with the orange tip painted black.

The shooting was declared justified after an investigation in 2013.