Columbine shooting survivor sues authorities
Columbine High School shooting survivor Patrick Ireland is suing the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, several deputies and the school district, claiming they failed to do enough to prevent the massacre.
The lawsuit, filed on Monday in the US District Court in Denver, Colorado, seeks unspecified damages for several claims, including a violation of Ireland’s constitutional rights to life, liberty and personal security.
An attorney for Ireland and a spokesman for Jefferson County did not return phone calls yesterday.
Ireland, now 20, was shot in the head during the April 20, 1999, attack at Columbine. His dramatic rescue from a second-floor window was broadcast live on television.
His injuries left him partially paralysed. He also suffers cognitive impairments and post traumatic seizure disorder, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims law enforcement authorities failed to follow up on action that could have helped prevent the rampage by Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, who killed 12 students and a teacher before killing themselves.
The lawsuit alleges that authorities failed to thoroughly investigate an Internet threat by Harris against Columbine student Brooks Brown more than a year before the shootings.
Additionally, the lawsuit claims that law enforcement officers deprived Ireland of timely medical care by confining students in the library until after Klebold and Harris took their lives.
Several families of students who were wounded or killed at Columbine have filed lawsuits against the sheriff’s office and school officials, claiming they ignored warning signs leading up to the attack.
