Father of UVA-Wise student killed in Virginia Beach files civil suit against officer, police department

The father of a former UVA-Wise student killed by a Virginia Beach police officer earlier this year is accusing the department of negligence.

In a civil suit reported on by the Virginian-Pilot, Wayne Lynch says his son Donavan Lynch, 25, was shot unlawfully without warning in the March 27 incident on the beachfront where another person was killed and eight people wounded.

The suit also names the officer involved in the shooting, Solomon Simmons, III.

Lynch was a UVA-Wise graduate and a cousin of hip hop producer Pharrell Williams. The family is seeking $50 million in damages.