Lawyer says Costco victim mentally ill, off meds

A lawyer for the family of a man fatally shot by an off-duty police officer in a Southern California Costco says the man was mentally ill and recently went off his medication.

The attorney, Dale Galipo, also acknowledged that 32-year-old Kenneth French pushed or slapped the back of the Los Angeles police officer in the Costco on Friday night.

Galipo says French was taken off his medication due to other health complications and that may have affected French's behavior. However, he said French had no history of violence.

The officer's attorney says French delivered an unprovoked blow that knocked the officer to the floor as he held his 1½-year-old son. The officer was unconscious briefly and then, believing his life and that of his child were in danger, opened fire.

French was killed and his parents critically wounded.