Last October, a Department of Public Works (DPW) worker died when a gunman opened fire at the DPW facility. Now, his widow filed a negligence lawsuit against the city for his death. In a report at dcist.com, the widow accuses the city of failing to act on security and safety recommendations made in April 2010, six months before the shooting. Some of those safety recommendations included making repairs to security cameras, providing a guard at the facility’s entrance, and better lighting.
An earlier incident prompted the April 2010 safety recommendations. However, the DPW director denied ever seeing a copy of the April safety recommendations. In a council hearing after last October’s shooting, the director said that DPW budget cuts prevented the department from implementing the measures at the facility, which seems to contradict his earlier statement of never seeing the report.
The victim was 51-years-old and worked for the DPW for over 20 years. Another worker suffered injuries in the shooting. Authorities are still investigating the shooting incident.
Do you think improved safety measures could have prevented the violent incident? Call today.
Koonz McKenney Johnson & DePaolis LLP
Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Virginia Injury Attorneys
Approved by attorney David Schloss