Family sues after man dies in 2010 police shooting

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The family of a man fatally shot by Bountiful and Woods Cross officers in 2010 has filed a wrongful death lawsuit.

The suit claims police used excessive force in the July 9, 2010 shooting of William C. Oakden IV outside the Trade Winds Mobile Home Park in Bountiful.

Police say they found the 30-year-old Oakden drunk, holding a knife and threatening to kill himself. Officers say he pulled out a pellet gun and fired at them before they fired back with guns.

Oakden later died at a hospital.

Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings said in January 2011 that the two officers involved in the shooting were justified.

But the lawsuit questions the officers' accounts of the incident.

Rawlings called the suit laughable and said the county would vigorously defend itself.

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