Michael Brown’s parents filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city of Ferguson on Thursday, opening a new chapter in the legal battle over the shooting that killed their son and sparked a national protest movement about the way police treat blacks.

Attorneys for Brown’s parents promised the case would bring to light new forensic evidence and raise doubts about the police version of events. Some of that evidence, they said, had been overlooked in previous investigations.

“The narrative of the law enforcement all across the country for shooting unarmed people of color is the same: That they had no other choice,” attorney Benjamin Crump said. “But time and time again, the objective evidence contradicts the standard police narrative.”

Brown’s parents, Lesley McSpadden and Michael Brown Sr., attended a news conference announcing the lawsuit outside the St. Louis County Courthouse. A tear rolled down McSpadden’s cheek as Crump spoke.

“It’s all part of the journey,” she said.

The case had been expected for months. If it comes to trial, the lawsuit could force a full review of all the evidence in the shooting and bring key witnesses to be questioned in open court, including Darren Wilson, the white officer who shot Brown. Wilson and former Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson were also named in the complaint.

Civil cases generally require a lower standard of proof than criminal cases. Jurors must base their decision on a preponderance of evidence, not proof beyond a reasonable doubt, which is the standard needed to convict in a criminal trial.

A Ferguson city spokesman declined to comment, citing the pending litigation. Messages left for an attorney for Wilson were not immediately returned.

Jackson declined to discuss the lawsuit, telling The Associated Press that he was unaware of it until a reporter told him and had not had a chance to review the allegations.

Brown, 18, was unarmed and walking in the street with a friend on Aug. 9 when Wilson told them to move to the sidewalk.

The lawsuit alleges that Wilson told the two to “get the (expletive) out of the street,” causing tension to escalate. Without the “unnecessary and unwarranted profane language,” the encounter would have been “uneventful,” it says.

Moments later, Wilson and Brown became involved in a scuffle through the open window of Wilson’s police vehicle. Wilson shot Brown after the scuffle spilled into the street.

Some witnesses said Brown appeared to be trying to surrender, but Wilson said Brown was moving toward him aggressively, forcing him to shoot.

The attorneys said they planned to cite Wilson’s own initial comments to a supervisor in which, according to the lawsuit, he said Brown had his arms raised moments before the shooting.

Brown’s death led to weeks of sometimes-violent demonstrations and spawned a national “Black Lives Matter” movement seeking changes in how police deal with minorities. In the end, local and federal authorities ruled that the shooting was justified.

In the months since Brown was killed, unarmed blacks have been fatally shot by police in Wisconsin, California, Oklahoma, South Carolina and elsewhere. Unlike Brown’s death, some of those shootings were caught on video.

A St. Louis County grand jury and the U.S. Justice Department declined to prosecute Wilson, who resigned in November. But the Justice Department released a scathing report citing racial bias and racial profiling in the Ferguson Police Department and in a profit-driven municipal court system that frequently targeted blacks.

After the report, several city officials resigned, including Jackson, the city manager and a municipal judge. The municipal court clerk was fired for racist emails, and two police officers resigned over racist emails of their own.

Crump and another attorney for the family, Daryl Parks, said the lawsuit will include evidence that was ignored by the grand jury and the Justice Department, including bullets allegedly fired by Wilson found in buildings.

Civil suits often unfold much differently than criminal matters.

Two decades ago, football star O.J. Simpson was acquitted of the slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman. But a civil jury awarded the Brown and Goldman families $33.5 million in wrongful-death damages.

The family of Amadou Diallo, an unarmed man killed by New York police in 1999, settled with the city for $3 million in 2004 after filing a $60 million lawsuit. The city did not admit any wrongdoing. The settlement came after four officers indicted in his shooting were acquitted of second-degree murder and reckless endangerment.

Wrongful-death lawsuits have been filed in other recent high-profile cases, too.

In New York, the family of Eric Garner is seeking $75 million in damages. Garner, who was black and had asthma, died in July after a white plainclothes officer applied what a medical examiner determined was a chokehold. Garner was accused of selling loose, untaxed cigarettes on a city street.

St. Louis County SWAT team swarm a house in Ferguson, Thursday morning, March 12, 2015, following the midnight shooting of two police officers in Ferguson

“People are already attributing the Ferguson shooting to “gangbanger thugs.” 70 yards. At night. Elevated position. Three shots. Two seconds. All hit. No real witnesses reported. I’m giving 10:1 in favor of prior service.” – Former special forces serviceman

Update at 12:00 p.m. ET: Police Hunting Down Shooter

Officers swarmed a home in Ferguson Thursday morning in a search for those responsible for the shooting of two police officers outside the Ferguson police department about midnight.

Tactical officers surrounded a brick bungalow on Dade Avenue near Tiffin Avenue. The home is about four blocks west of the police department. Officers went in with dogs about 9:30 a.m. A neighbor said he saw police bring two people out of the home and heard talk of a third hiding in the attic.

Around 10 a.m., officers were on the roof and appeared to be trying to break into the attic from the roof.

Bruce Patterson, who lives across the street from the home being searched, said his immediate reaction when he saw police descend on the home: “Panic.”

“I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “All along I’ve thought, they’re protesting four blocks away at the police station, keep it away. And guess what? It’s here.”

He said he knows the woman brought out of the house in handcuffs. She rents the home and has a six-year-old boy who visits Patterson to play with his grandchildren often. The woman being arrested asked Patterson to care for the boy until his grandmother could come pick him up.

Update at 11:15 a.m. ET: Injury Updates, And More Details

The two police officers who were shot had been standing in a line of more than a dozen officers, Belmar said at a news conference Thursday morning.

Belmar said the Webster Groves officer was shot just below his right eye, and that the bullet is now lodged in the back of his head. The St. Louis County officer was struck in the shoulder, and the bullet passed through and exited his back.

Despite the serious nature of the injuries, Belmar said, the officers aren’t expected to have any “remarkable long-term injuries.” He said he had spoken with both of the officers.

“I think it’s a miracle that we haven’t had any instances similar to this” before now, Belmar said, noting other occurrences of gunfire at protests in Ferguson.

“When you look at the tenor of at least some of the people” involved in protests, he said, it is difficult for officers to discern who might pose a threat.

Ferguson cops drew their weapons seconds after a sniper shot two of their colleagues

The St. Louis County police chief added that when shots were fired last night, the officers saw muzzle flashes later estimated to be about 125 yards away. He said the officers drew their weapons but did not discharge them.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we were very close to what happened in New York,” Belmar said, referring to the recent fatal shooting of two officers there.

“This is really an ambush, is what it is,” he said later.

The chief said no suspects have been identified in the shootings but that detectives recovered shell casings near the scene. He said it was not clear if those shell casings were from the shooting. He said some witnesses have been “forthright” in helping police with the investigation.

Belmar said he had been surprised by the amount of “agitation” at the protest.

At one point, he acknowledged that there was “an unfortunate association” between whoever fired the shots and the protesters who were there for what he called “the right reasons.”

Belmar also said he hasn’t confirmed reports that rocks or bottles had been thrown at the officers during Wednesday night’s protest. He repeatedly said it is “very difficult” for officers to identify potential threats in such situations.

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Two police officers were seriously injured in a shooting early Thursday outside the Ferguson, Mo., police department amid new protests following the resignation of the town’s embattled police chief.  The shooting comes after revelations of racism among members of Ferguson PD and targeted revenue generation aimed at the most poor and vulnerable citizens in Ferguson.

A 32-year-old officer from suburban Webster Groves was shot in the face and a 41-year-old officer from St. Louis County was shot in the shoulder, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said. Both were taken to a local hospital, where Belmar said they were conscious. He said he did not have further details about their conditions but described their injuries as “very serious,” but not life-threatening.

The chief is the sixth Ferguson employee to go since a scathing federal Department of Justice report last week accused the city of racist police and court practices it said were focused on generating revenue, not justice.

Protesters on site recorded video of the shooting and claimed that they saw muzzle flashes on the hill behind them (across the street from the Police station).  The video below described what took place.

The shooting took place after protesters had come together near the police station after Jackson’s resignation was announced earlier. Some arrests were made and officers, some in riot gear, had blocked off the street on both sides of the protesters, according to Twitter posts by community organizers at the scene.   Some protesters claimed that the police made it impossible for them to leave the area. The protest up to that point was relatively peaceful, but the sound of gunfire just after midnight sent protesters and police officers running for cover.

Police dressed in riot gear dragged the injured officers to safety, The New York Times reported. Protesters said on Twitter that the shots did not come from the group of about 100 gathered in the police department’s parking lot, but from behind them. Witnesses said the shots seemed to come from the parking lot of Andy Wurm Tire & Wheels, located on South Florissant Road, across the street from the police headquarters. St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said at a press conference that the shots appeared to be targeted at the officers, and that the shooter, or shooters, may have “embedded” in the protesters. The former Ferguson police chief reportedly stated, “This is what they wanted to happen.”  It is unclear who he was referring to. Additional footage from the local Fox affiliate describes what happened below.