Family of shooting victim files lawsuit against city of Plano

by PegNews wire

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A flashlight mounted on a Plano officer's pistol caused it to fire, killing one.

From Miller Weisbrod, LLP comes this press release:

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Miller Weisbrod, LLP, a Texas law firm that specializes in catastrophic injury litigation, filed a lawsuit today in state District Court in Collin County on behalf of the mother and the spouse of a Carrollton man who was accidentally shot and killed by a Plano Police Department officer.

Belinda Saldana, mother of the deceased, and Nancy Nava, spouse of the deceased, along with the minor child, Michael Anthony Alcala, Jr., are suing the City of Plano, charging the municipality as guilty of certain acts, each of which constitute negligence, and each of which were a proximate cause of Michael Anthony Alcala’s death.

On October 13, 2010, 25-year-old Michael Anthony Alcala was shot and killed by a City of Plano police sergeant, who has yet to be identified, in the parking lot of the Jack in the Box fast food restaurant located at the Northeast corner of the North Dallas Tollway and Frankford Road in the City of Dallas, Collin County, Texas.

The City of Plano officer has stated in a sworn affidavit to have had his firearm, a Springfield .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol, drawn on Mr. Alcala when the Plano officer attempted to illuminate a SureFire X300 flashlight mounted on the gun. The City of Plano officer has stated that when he attempted to illuminate the flashlight, he accidentally discharged the firearm, shooting and killing Mr. Alcala.

“Putting a flashlight on a gun where the switch to turn on the light is adjacent to the trigger is a very bad idea. It asks for an accident to happen just like it did in this case. More deaths will occur if something isn’t done,” said Les Weisbrod, Miller Weisbrod, LLP partner representing the deceased’s family.

The lawsuit charges the Defendant City of Plano officer that shot and killed Mr. Alcala is guilty of the following acts which constitute negligence and were the cause of Michael Alcala’s death and the family’s injuries and damages. The plaintiffs will show that at all times the officer was acting in the course and scope of the Plano Police Department and City of Plano.

The suit states that the City of Plano was negligent, and through its officer that shot and killed Michael Anthony Alcala, of:

• (1) Failure to control a firearm;
• (2) Discharging a firearm when he did not intend to;
• (3) Discharging a firearm when he was illuminating a flashlight; and/or
• (4) Other negligent actions and/or omissions.

The suit asks for an unspecified amount of actual damages plus court costs for the family’s pain and suffering and medical and burial expenses and for his son’s loss of love, companionship and society due to his father’s death.

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Source: The Buzzell Company

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