It wasn't the first time officer Steven Ward was involved in a fatal shooting, attorneys Clark Newhall and Edward McBride claim in a federal lawsuit they filed Friday on behalf of Bounmy Ousa's family.

Ward allegedly "boasted" about a fatal shooting in Midvale in 2004, claiming responsibility for killing the victim by shooting him in the head and saying he had obtained the first notch on his belt.

After Ousa's death, the city, through its police chief and high ranking police officers, "encouraged, aided and abetted a conspiracy among its officers to manufacture evidence to exculpate Ward of a charge of unjustified killing," the suit alleges.

The suit, which seeks at least $1 million in addition to other damages, names officers Ward and Matt Carman, West Valley City and 20 "John Does" believed to be police officers who participated in an alleged cover-up.

"This is about justice," said Steve Ousa, Bounmy Ousa's son.

West Valley City Attorney Richard Catten said Monday night he hadn't seen the lawsuit and declined to comment on it. Ward could not be reached for comment.

Newhall said his office has turned over to Salt Lake City police items a private investigator found in a trash can outside Ward's home, including a small metal pipe with brown residue, vials containing a white crystalline substance and a short straw of the type used to inhale illegal substances. The police also have evidence from an informant who says Ward used steroids and purchased the drugs from Eastern Europe, Newhall said.

Salt Lake City police spokesman Dwayne Baird confirmed his department was asked by West Valley City to look into "matters" surrounding the shooting investigation. The department was still investigating, but Baird refused to provide further details.

The Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office has cleared Ward of any wrongdoing in connection with both shootings, said West Valley City police Capt. Tom McLachlan.

In the Ousa case, District Attorney David Yocom declined to pursue charges against Ward and Carman after determining they acted within the performance of lawful duties and that the "use of force was reasonable and justified under the criminal code of the state of Utah."

Bounmy Ousa died outside his home after being shot several times at close range by Ward, who sat parked in an unmarked police car near 3300 West Brookway Drive with his partner, Carman. The officers were conducting surveillance on a neighboring home, which was scheduled for a narcotics search warrant later in the evening.

Ousa approached the vehicle and spoke with the officers, who identified themselves as police and asked him to return to his home. Ousa stepped away from the car and removed a "shiny, black, metallic object" from his waistband, according to police. Ward thought it was a gun and fired four times at Ousa.

The object turned out to be a flashlight, according to the investigation. Ousa died a short time later. In July, Newhall predicted to The Tribune that the department was going to claim Ousa had the flashlight in his hand, leading officers to believe he had a gun.

And that's what the department did, according to the lawsuit.

The officers allegedly conspired to manufacture evidence to exonerate Ward by searching Ousa's house to get the flashlight after learning of it after questioning his son.

They also conspired to mislead the investigator for the D.A.'s Office, the suit contends. The officers allegedly lied by saying that Ousa had an object in his back pocket when he approached the car and that he reached behind his back and withdrew the object, which appeared to be a weapon.

The officers also lied when they said that Ousa was carrying a flashlight when he was shot and that it was found beside or on Ousa immediately after the shooting, the suit contends.

The officers allegedly "conspired to deliberately delay" medical care to Ousa, who didn't die immediately after being shot. As a result, Ousa was deprived of a chance of surviving, the suit claims. His children also were not allowed to provide any aid or comfort to the dying man, according to the suit.

The suit also contends that West Valley City had known about Ward's steroid use before July 2004 as well as Ward's boasting of the 2004 shooting.

In that shooting, eight officers - five from West Valley City and three from the Metro Gang Project - killed Donald Jeffrey Newman, 24, on March 13, 2004, after he allegedly reached for a gun. Neuman was wanted for homicide.

The city, through its police chief and supervisory officers, "deliberately and willfully ignored the dangerous and improper" conduct of Ward, endangering Ousa's family and residents of West Valley City, the suit claims. The city was "grossly negligent" when it allowed Ward to continue his illegal drug use, the suit states.

jhill@sltrib.com