Loved ones of a man who was fatally shot in Seattle’s autonomous zone plan to sue the City of Seattle, King County, and Washington State, arguing that local paramedics left him “to die,” according to a recent report. An attorney representing the estate of 19-year-old Lorenzo Anderson has filed a notice of claim regarding the alleged delayed response of a Seattle Fire Department ambulance on the night the man was shot, the New York Post exclusively reported Wednesday. According to the report, the claim accuses Mayor Jenny Durkin, Seattle Police Department, Seattle Emergency Medical Services, City Council, and the state of negligence. It also argues they the defendants “breached the duty of reasonable care” for the victim and caused a “preventable and predictable” death, the report states.
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“The Mayor of Seattle motivated and nurtured CHOP as [she] believed the occupation of the area was creating a ‘summer of love,'” the document reportedly states. “However, as many wells know, it became a ‘summer of blood.'” Dan Nolte, a Seattle City Attorney’s Office spokesperson, said the agency intends “to investigate these brought claims and will defend the City in this matter.” Anderson, whose full name is Horace Lorenzo Anderson, was shot June 20 in the Capitol Hill Organized Protest, or CHOP, zone and transported by volunteer medics to Harborview Medical Center, where he died, the Seattle Fire Department said at the time. King County prosecutors on Aug. 5 charged 18-year-old Marcel Long with first-degree murder in the case, accusing him of fatally shooting Anderson and fleeing the state. A warrant has been issued for Long’s arrest.
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At 2:20 a.m. on June 20, several people called 911 to report the shooting, records show. Fifteen minutes later, police officers entered the protest zone and “were confronted by an aggressive and volatile crowd,” according to charging documents filed against Long. Some people in the crowd yelled that the shooting victim had already been taken to the hospital. Seattle Fire Department medics had staged nearby, but authorities said the scene was too dangerous for them to enter without police securing the area.
Wednesday’s notices of claim, according to the Post, allege that a Seattle Fire Department ambulance was only roughly two blocks away from the shooting when 911 was called, while police were an approximately one-half mile from the scene. But the fire department allegedly could not respond until approximately 20 minutes after Anderson was struck, at 2:39 a.m., because they had to wait for a police escort, according to the report.
“For close to twenty whole minutes, Seattle Police and Fire Departments communicated with dispatchers on separate radio channels, communicated the wrong locations, and miscommunicated the procedures for providing medical attention to Lorenzo,” the papers allege. “Meanwhile, 19-year-old Lorenzo lay helpless on the pavement, bleeding to death while 911 calls continued to pour in, with bystanders begging authorities to send help. As Lorenzo’s pulse faded, volunteers performed CPR while other bystanders were on the phone with emergency dispatchers, receiving conflicting information about how to get Lorenzo into the ambulance once it arrived.”
A spokesperson for Evan Oshan, the attorney who represents Anderson’s family, did not respond to Fox News’ request seeking comment. Medical staff at a local hospital pronounced Anderson dead at 2:43 a.m. local time. “The Seattle EMT was less than a minute away from Lorenzo as he bled out, and the Seattle Police were less than 5 minutes away from him as he bled out,” the court papers further state. “Essentially, Lorenzo was left to die.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.
