The family of a 17-year-old who was shot by police while he was handcuffed and fleeing authorities plans to file a $23 million federal lawsuit today against the Metropolitan Police Department and the two officers involved in the shooting.

In a prepared statement, attorneys representing the family of murder suspect Swuave Lopez called the shooting "callous and unjustified." The family plans to file its civil rights and wrongful death suit this morning.

"It is incomprehensible to me that the police who handcuffed Lopez and had him in their custody could not have performed some action short of shooting a fleeing handcuffed suspect that appeared to pose no immediate threat of serious bodily harm to anyone," attorney Arthur L. Williams said in a prepared statement.

James W. Myart, Jr., the lead attorney for the Lopez family, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Swuave Lopez was shot in the back in May after the handcuffed murder suspect climbed out of the passenger side of a police detective's car and ran. Lopez had been arrested in connection with the shooting death of 18-year-old Kyle Staheli, whose bullet-ridden body was burned and left in the desert in the northeast valley.

The officers who shot at Lopez are 20-year veteran Detective Ken Hardy, 39, and six-year department veteran Detective Shane Womack, 28, according to the police department.

Lopez's shooting and a ruling by a coroner's inquest jury that the officers' actions were justified prompted the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada to lobby Clark County commissioners to revise the coroner's inquest system.

Las Vegas police officers have fired at people 20 times this year.

The ACLU for years has complained that the inquest system favors police and does not fairly examine whether officers acted appropriately.

County commissioners on Tuesday called for a group to recommend possible changes to the system and how hearings into police killings are conducted.

Gary Peck, executive director of the ACLU of Nevada, said following Lopez's shooting that the best avenue for a thorough investigation into an officer-involved killing is the filing of a civil lawsuit.

Before 1993, state statutes allowed officers to use deadly force on a fleeing felon whether or not there was a threat of danger to an officer or the public. Current law allows officers to use deadly force to prevent an escape if there is probable cause to believe the person "has committed a felony which involves the infliction or threat of serious bodily harm or the use of deadly force" or "poses a threat of serious bodily harm to the officers or to others."

At the time of his arrest, Lopez was found in possession of a .45-caliber handgun, according to police.

He was handcuffed behind the back before he was placed in the detectives' car but maneuvered his hands under his feet and to the front of his body, enabling him to open the car door and flee.