The family of a woman who was shot by a San Jose, CA police officer has settled with the city for a $1.8 million wrongful death award. The woman, a troubled, non-English speaking Vietnamese immigrant mother was shot as she stood in her kitchen holding a vegetable peeler.
The incident occurred on July 13, 2003 when officers responded to a neighbor’s complaint about noise and yelling coming from the woman’s home. San Jose Police Officer Chad Marshall opened fire on 25-year-old Cau Bich Tran within seconds of entering the woman’s home, hitting her with bullets in the heart and killing her almost instantly. The officer testified that he thought the woman was wielding a cleaver and going to throw it at him.
The incident underscored efforts of San Jose officials to come closer to their large Vietnamese and Vietnamese-American population. San Jose has the largest concentration of Vietnamese descendants in the United States.
The hearing was held before a grand jury that did not indict the officer in Tran’s death. Community members criticized the decision, saying that the officer employed undue force on the 4-foot, 9-inch tall woman.
The award will go to the woman’s two children who are aged 5 and 6 and must still be approved by US District Judge James Ware.
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