National City has agreed to settle a lawsuit for $1 million with the family of a man who in 2021 was fatally shot by police officers while armed with a machete and while experiencing what his family described as a mental health crisis.
Brian Umana’s relatives alleged in the federal wrongful death suit that instead of trying to de-escalate the situation or take the 28-year-old father to a mental health facility, National City police officers “rushed toward (him) and shot him approximately 10 times, including in the back.”
According to a document filed by the family’s attorneys last week in U.S. District Court in San Diego, National City has agreed to pay $500,000 each to Umana’s mother and his 8-year-old daughter. The daughter’s portion will be placed in a trust until she turns 18.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the Umana family,” the city said in a statement released Wednesday through the City Attorney’s Office. “Regardless of the circumstances, we recognize the profound loss they have experienced and our hearts go out to them during this difficult time.”
The city statement also emphasized that the settlement was not an admission of guilt by the officers or their department and alleged that Umana “confronted police with a machete … (and) failed to comply with officers’ warnings” before he was killed. The statement said the city and the Police Department agreed with a review by the county District Attorney’s Office that the police officers’ actions were justified.
“Unfortunately, (the settlement) is a reflection of the realities of our litigious society, where legal and financial settlements are often pursued in an effort to avoid the uncertainty and cost of protracted litigation, even where the alleged wrongdoing is contested,” the statement said. “The City’s decision to reach a settlement is done to mitigate financial risk to the City and taxpayers.”
Umana’s brother, Roberto Umana, told the Union-Tribune in a statement provided by his attorneys that Umana’s case is part of a pattern of National City police officers killing people who instead needed mental help. He mentioned the cases of Earl McNeil, who died while being restrained in custody and whose family settled a lawsuit for $300,000, and Tony Wilson, who died after being Tased five times in 40 seconds and whose family settled a lawsuit for $350,000.
“This isn’t about a ‘litigious society’ — it’s the sad reality of National City,” Roberto Umana said. “Repeated settlements suggest ongoing police misconduct, not just legal costs. If the claims were baseless, the city wouldn’t keep paying. Instead of settling without change, the city must focus on real reforms. Ignoring the problem only fuels more abuse and erodes public trust. Mental health calls should be treated seriously.”
Roberto Umana told the Union-Tribune in 2022 that Brian lived with bipolar disorder that set in after their father died of complications from pneumonia in 2014.
“I think from that day forward, he suffered,” Roberto Umana said. “He wouldn’t be in the right state of mind at times.”
The shooting occurred about 4:30 a.m. Oct. 8, 2021, near the home where Umana lived with his mother, his partner and their daughter. Officers responded to a ringing alarm at a self-storage facility, as well as a call from an employee who told police a man with a large knife was on the property.
Officers found Umana outside the facility barefoot in the rain and pacing up and down 33rd Street, just west of National City Boulevard and north of state Route 54.
“Brian (was) walking back and forth along an isolated rain-soaked sidewalk … without shoes and talking to himself,” the family’s lawsuit said. “Brian was clearly under mental distress and anguish from a health disability.”
Video from officers’ body-worn cameras, obtained by the Union-Tribune through a public records request about three months after the shooting, captured much of the encounter. In the video, an officer handling a police dog can be heard telling Umana to drop the machete as Umana stood on the sidewalk. The dog handler, accompanied by an officer armed with a gun and another with a Taser, also warned him he could be bitten by the dog.
The video showed that Umana did not appear to reply as the officer with the dog repeated his commands and warnings for about two and a half minutes. At that point, the video appeared to show Umana walk past two officers as if to walk away.
The officers then approached Umana and again told him to drop the machete, according to the video, which showed one of the officers fire a Taser that failed to subdue Umana.
Umana then turned toward the officers and raised the machete, the video showed. That’s when Officers Evan Davis and Michael Sportelli opened fire, one with a Glock handgun and one with a rifle.
The family’s lawsuit alleged Umana was struck 10 times in the head, back and torso. He died at the scene.
Roberto Umana said in 2022 that his family didn’t know what caused his brother to wander outside or where he found the machete the day he was killed.
Timothy Scott, one of the family’s attorneys, said that National City officials said the settlement is the largest police wrongful death payment in the city’s history.
“(But) it does not even begin to reflect the loss to Brian Umana’s family,” Scott told the Union-Tribune in a statement. “The truth is that police shot a man to death because he was suffering a profound mental-health crisis. This situation called for … a de-escalation of violence. Our community, including those who suffer from mental health issues, deserves better.”
The lawsuit alleged excessive force by the officers, a failure by the city to properly train the officers, and wrongful death and civil rights violations. Attorneys for the city and the officers sought multiple times to dismiss the suit, but U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel allowed most of the claims to move forward.
The City Council is expected to give final approval to the settlement at a meeting next week.
