Police Brutality / Individual record
Nicholas Robertson
The Washington Post's Fatal Force database records Nicholas Robertson in a fatal on-duty police shooting on 2015-12-12 in Lynwood, CA. Individual circumstances and legal outcome require case-specific review.
- Record ID
- PB-324
- Incident date
- December 12, 2015
- Outcome
- Fatal
- Location
- Lynwood, CA
- Agency
- Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
- Category
- Fatal on-duty police shooting
- Age (reported)
- 28
What happened
Nicholas Robertson, 28, was killed by two Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies in Lynwood on December 12, 2015, after reports that a man was firing a handgun into the air. Witness video captured deputies shooting Robertson as he walked and then crawled away; the deputies discharged 33 rounds, a detail that sparked protests. Prosecutors reviewed photographs, recordings and officer statements and declined criminal charges in April 2017, concluding the deputies acted in defense of themselves or others. Robertson's relatives pursued wrongful-death litigation and Los Angeles County agreed to a $3.6 million settlement in December 2017. The video and family's account disputed the continuing gunfire after he fell. The prosecutors' conclusion and the civil settlement are distinct from one another.
Investigation & findings
Individual legal and investigative outcome not yet reviewed.
Washington Post Fatal Force v2; 2015–2024
Source record details
- Source incident ID
- 1079
- Race code in source
- B
- Race source method
- not_available
- Gender (source)
- male
- Armed status (source)
- gun
- Flee status (source)
- not
- Agency IDs (source)
- 20
Sources & records
- Primary source
- Additional source
- Methodology and national police killings trackingMapping Police Violence · Dataset/methodology
- Fatal Force v2 — fatal on-duty police shootings, 2015–2024The Washington Post · Dataset