OAKLAND, Kalifornia - June 1, 2010 - A local news cameraman filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Oakland Police Department for an alleged 2009 run-in with officers that occurred the same day four other officers were killed.

Attorneys for former KGO-TV cameraman Douglas Laughlin said Laughlin was on a sidewalk near Highland Hospital as an ambulance arrived March 21, 2009, when police were responding to gunfire that killed Officer John Hege and Sgts. Mark Dunakin, Erv Romans, and Daniel Sakai.

Laughlin was hurrying toward the hospital emergency entrance with his video camera when three officers stopped him, saying, "Get the [expletive] out of here," and pushed him to the ground, according to Charles Bourdon, an attorney for Laughlin. The officers also broke Laughlin's camera, Bourdon said.

"The public has a right to be informed and for its journalists to report the news," Bourdon said. "Mr. Laughlin was doing his job to present a newsworthy event to the public and was not at any time interfering with the legitimate actions of the police."

Bourdon said he would seek an unspecified amount of money and an injunction to prevent police from violating journalists' First Amendment rights.

Spokespeople for OPD and the City Attorney's office declined to comment on the lawsuit Tuesday, saying they had not yet had a chance to fully review its contents.