The family of a gunshot victim, left to languish without aid from paramedics for over 30 minutes before succumbing to her injury, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of San Jose, as reported by the Mercury News.
The complaint was filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court on July 2, nearly two years since the July 14, 2010 shooting that resulted in the death of V.H.
The suit states that V.H.'s untimely death was the direct result of "grossly negligent and bad faith actions of the SJPD."
V.H. was shot by her neighbor, R.T., just outside of her family's apartment on the 2100 block of Rexford Way. R.T. has since been charged with V.H.'s murder, as well as an additional charge of attempted murder for stabbing another person in the building.
San Jose-based attorney John Stein is representing V.H.'s family.
V.H.'s husband, J.H. and sister, M.A., have both claimed that a police dispatcher told them that medical help would arrive soon, however, once help did arrive San Jose police officers prevented paramedics from coming to V.H.'s aid.
J.H. and M.A. further claim that upon seeing medical aid thwarted by the police they took it upon themselves to yell down that it was safe to approach them in the building. However, when no aid came, J.H. left the building, went outside to the street and began to "beg and implore" that the officers and paramedics to return to the building with him and help V.H.
Sgt. Ronnie Lopez explained that officers faced "one of those situations where we had to address the immediate threat before we could render first aid or medical attention. We don't want anyone else to get hurt."
The timeline of events are as follows: At approximately 9:54 p.m. the 911 call was received, at 9:57 p.m. police and emergency crews arrived at the apartment building, at 9:59 p.m. the stabbing victim began receiving aid, and by 10:19 p.m. paramedics began treating V.H.
An eyewitness account claimed to see R.T. shoot V.H. once in the chest. The stabbing victim allegedly told police that R.T. had reentered his apartment after the attacks.
According to R.T.'s roommate, R.T. returned to his apartment after the shooting, changed into clean clothes, put the gun in a bag by the front door, wrapped the blood-stained knife in a towel and then waited for police to arrive and arrest him.
The lawsuit states, "During the 30-minute-plus delay, the medical condition of (V.H.) continued to deteriorate because of the refusal on the part of SJPD to allow the paramedics to enter the complex and by these affirmative acts prevented rendition of medical aid."
A wrongful death such as this one illustrates how doubly painful loosing a loved one can be when knowing it was preventable. If you have lost someone you love due to the actions or inactions of another entity, contact a personal injury lawyer to file your lawsuit today!