Family of Brandon Tate-Brown files class action lawsuit

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The family of Brandon Tate-Brown filed a federal class action lawsuit Wednesday.

They've withdrawn a wrongful death lawsuit filed in April.

Tate-Brown, 26, was killed by Philadelphia police during a traffic stop last December in the city's Mayfair section.

Grainy, partially obscured surveillance video recorded the incident.

Tate-Brown's family says it bolsters their case that the officers lied about what happened.

In June, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey acknowledged that the account of the moments leading up to the shooting of Tate-Brown were not exactly the way police initially described them.

Ramsey said there was no evidence Tate-Brown was reaching for a gun when he was shot and killed by Philadelphia officers.

He said the police department's rush to provide details to the public about the shooting is to blame for the false narrative that Tate-Brown was reaching for a gun.

"One thing doesn't change: there was a gun in the car. The officer saw the gun. There was a struggle. There was an attempt to get back to the car. There were witness statements that confirmed that," Ramsey said in June, according to the Associated Press.

The district attorney cleared the two officers involved of any wrongdoing.

Tate-Brown's family is seeking monetary damages and jurisdiction over police training reforms.