Woman Sues NYPD After Being Hit By Officers' Gunfire Following Hatchet Attack
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A woman has filed a lawsuit against the NYPD, after officers accidentally shot her, as they fired at a man who hurled a hatchet at them in Jamaica, Queens last fall.
Latoya James, 29, was wounded in the shooting when officers fired at Zale Thompson on Jamaica Avenue around 2 p.m. on Oct. 29 of last year.
Officers were on patrol when without a word, Thompson, 32, came at the officers with a hatchet, police said.
Officer Kenneth Healey suffered a serious head injury, and another officer was slashed in the arm, by a hatchet-wielding man before Thompson was shot and killed by other officers.
But James was wounded by the officers' gunfire, and attorney Andrew Siben said police were negligent.
"She was just innocently walking down the street, and before she knew it, she heard the sound of several shots being fired, and she went and ducked for cover. She was shot," Siben told 1010 WINS.
He said too many shots were fired in a public area.
"Shooting 19 shots into a public area on a main street in a busy town is certainly the basis of our negligence claim," Siben said.
In response, city Corporation Council Zachary W. Carter said it was Thompson who was to blame for James' injury, not the NYPD.
"When confronted with a hatchet-wielding suspect who was in the process of attacking fellow officers and who presented a clear and imminent danger to others, responding police officers were required to make split-second decisions concerning the use of deadly force to neutralize the suspect," Carter said in the statement. "It was the suspect who was primarily responsible for endangering innocent bystanders and we intend to vigorously defend the actions of the responding officers."
Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said last fall that the hatchet-throwing was a terrorist attack.
Thompson's activity on social media indicated he was a convert to Islam and included rants about injustices in American society and oppression abroad but offered no clear evidence of any affiliation with terror groups, police said.
Sources told CBS2's Matt Kozar last fall that Thompson had been visiting websites affiliated with Al Qaeda, ISIS, and Al-Shabaab.
A Facebook page linked to Thompson includes a picture of an Islamic warrior and a quote from the Koran.
On YouTube, Thompson appears to have posted a comment advocating "holy war," saying "If you're looking for 'perfect' Muslims who never make any mistakes in their jihad, then you will be looking in vain," CBS2's Tony Aiello reported.
Thompson was also online "looking at different acts of violence including beheadings," Miller said.
Authorities also seized a hunting knife as well as another "weaponized ax" from Thompson's residence after obtaining a search warrant.
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