Lawsuit over CHOP shooting reveals email from Seattle mayor calling incident ‘foreseeable, avoidable’
Dec 9, 2021, 11:20 AM
A memorial at the site where a 19-year-old was killed adjacent to Seattle's CHOP zone on June 20, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images)
(Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images)
A lawsuit filed by the family of Lorenzo Anderson — a teen shot and killed near Seattle’s CHOP zone in 2020 — sent by Mayor Jenny Durkan calling the death “foreseeable and avoidable.”
Family files federal lawsuit against Seattle over son killed in CHOP last summer
The email was addressed to then-Police Chief Carmen Best and Fire Chief Harold Scoggins the day after Anderson was killed, with Durkan instructing that “there can be no part of the city where SFD and SPD do not respond.” Witnesses had previously claimed Seattle fire and police responders stood by and declined to assist the teen as he bled to death. It was a civilian vehicle that eventually transported Anderson to Harborview Medical Center, where he later died.
The message from Mayor Durkan in the wake of that shooting came to light this week thanks to a records request by the family’s attorney, Mark Lindquist, who argues that the CHOP — where multiple shooting deaths occurred over the course of its tenure — was a “state-created danger.”
“The city both allowed and even promoted the CHOP, and that was a dangerous situation that eventually led to the death of Lorenzo,” Lindquist told KTTH’s Jason Rantz Show.
That said, Lindquist noted there still may be some work to do in order to prove that in a court of law.
Attorney for CHOP shooting victim: City had no plan to deal with trouble
“The mayor’s opinion is not binding on the judge, it’s not binding on the jury,” Lindquist pointed out. “But then again, this is not just any old mayor — Mayor Durkan is an attorney, and not just any old attorney, [she is] a former U.S. Attorney. In some way, she’s just stating the obvious, and I do appreciate her honesty and candor.”
Ultimately, Lindquist says Anderson’s mother Anita wants “accountability” for Lorenzo’s death.
“She wants to see this never happen again, so some other mother doesn’t lose her son,” he said. “She wants justice.”
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