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Family Of Man Shot By San Jose Police Claims Excessive Force Used

SAN JOSE (KCBS)— One of San Jose's recent fatal police shootings has resulted in a complaint of excessive force by the family of the victim.

32-year-old Varun Kumar of San Jose was shot by officers who responding to a report of a gunman at apartment complex in the 400 block of Wooster Avenue around 11:45 a.m. Sunday, police said.

The shooting happened after police encountered Kumar behind the wheel of a stolen car.  Officers said Kumar proceeded to ram one of their patrol cars, so they fired their Tasers at the driver.

KCBS' Matt Bigler Reports:

Police then said they thought Kumar was going for a gun and one officer fired three shots, one of them fatal.

Kumar was later found to be unarmed and his family has since filed a complaint with the city's Independent Police Auditor, LaDoris Cordell.

Earlier this month, Judge Cordell said that any allegations of officer misconduct are investigated promptly.

"These complaints are investigated by the internal affairs unit, and then our office then audits these investigations to ensure that the investigation was fair, complete, thorough and objective," Cordell said.

The District Attorney's office will conduct a separate investigation to determine whether or not the shooting was justified.

Kumar did have previous drug-related run-ins with the law, but his family has told the San Jose Mercury news that he was never violent and that he recently talked about taking classes at De Anza Community College.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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