The family of Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer Houston Tipping filed a new claim against the city regarding his death during a training exercise earlier this year, his family attorney announced last week.
Tipping family attorney Bradley Gage told reporters on Oct. 3 that Tipping, 32, died because of a spinal cord injury allegedly caused by an officer who he said was under a sexual assault investigation.
According to Gage, Tipping was involved in that investigation and wrote the report about the alleged assault, which involved four LAPD officers.
As such, the new lawsuit alleges that Tipping was subject to “whistleblower retaliation” because of the case.
The assault in question occurred in July 2021, and one of the accused officers was present during the training when Tipping was fatally injured in May, according to Gage.
The victim of the assault “knew the names of some of those officers because they were in uniform and they had their name tags on.”
“[The] name of one of those officers ... seems to correlate with one of the officers [at the training],” he said.
Gage alleges that Tipping was beaten to death by other officers during the training, suffering several blows to the head and multiple neck fractures. He said proper procedures weren’t followed and no head protections for the officers in the exercises were used.
“[After the fall], Officer P instantaneously came to Officer Tipping’s side, and Officer Tipping mouthed the words, ‘I can’t breathe,’ however no sound was audible,” the Oct. 4 inquiry report reads.
The LAPD stated that Tipping’s death was accidental and that he fell during the training, resulting in a spinal cord injury while grappling with another officer.
According to an autopsy report, Tipping’s death was accidental.
Deputy Medical Examiner Lawrence Nguyen wrote in the report that although a death “at the hands of another” is generally considered a homicide, there are some exceptions, including fatal incidents during organized sports or exercises in which participants are “consensual to committing potentially harmful acts and accept the inherent risks.”
This is the second lawsuit Tipping’s family has filed against the city. In late June, his mother, Shirley Huffman, filed a wrongful death lawsuit, claiming that her son was beaten to death in a “simulated mob attack.”
The LAPD declined to comment on Gage’s allegations, citing ongoing litigation.
But LAPD Constitutional Police Director Lizabeth Rhodes told the Police Commission on Oct. 4 that she has the authority to oversee the case and found no evidence of misconduct.
In the same commission meeting, LAPD Chief Michel Moore said Tipping was role-playing as a perpetrator with another student during the training. According to Moore, Tipping used his head and shoulders to push another officer during the training, who then wrapped his arm around Tipping’s neck.
“In falling, the two of them, to the ground, that’s where the injury occurred,” Moore told commissioners. “The impact on the ground, with the arm of the officer in that position, on the back side of Officer Tipping’s neck ... in that instance, is where the fracture occurred.”
