Calif. DA’s report says bystander’s shooting by police during pizzeria gunfight was justified

Calif. DA: Police killing of bystander justified

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — A district attorney’s report says an officer who fatally shot a bystander at a California pizzeria robbery was legally justified.

Chino police Cpl. Claudia Lisner shot 23-year-old Daniel Balandran outside the restaurant on Feb. 1, 2009.

Balandran was leaving a McDonald’s and walked into a gunbattle between officers and two robbery suspects.

The report released Friday says Balandran was wearing the same color shirt as the suspects and came from the same direction as the shots.

The report says Lisner asked Balandran to show his hands, but he did not. Lisner kept hearing shots and feared for her life, and she shot him in the chest.

An attorney for Balandran’s family calls the report a “whitewash.”

The two suspects also suffered gunshot wounds and were charged with murder.