Supreme Court lets family sue deputy

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is letting the family of a California teenager who was fatally shot while holding a pellet gun go forward with a lawsuit against authorities.

The Supreme Court declined this week to get involved in the case, leaving in place lower court decisions in favor of 13-year-old Andy Lopez’s family.

Lopez was fatally shot by Sonoma County sheriff’s deputy Erick Gelhaus on Oct. 22, 2013. Gelhaus saw Lopez carrying what appeared to be an AK-47 but was actually a plastic pellet gun made to look like an AK-47.

A federal trial court and an appeals court let the lawsuit go forward.

Lawyers for the county and the deputy argued the suit should be tossed because they were immune from being sued.