Washington Injury Law Blog

A 19 year old German nanny, Cristin Kellner, was paid $127,500 to settle her lawsuit against the Seattle Police Department and City of Seattle.  Back in 2005 Kellner was an innocent bystander that was shoot while standing outside Belltown Billards.  The shooting resulted from Seattle Police engaging in a shootout with a man riding a motorcycle near the pedestrian outside the pool hall at closing time.

Seattle City attorney Tom Carr said the city settled because of the risks posed by taking the case to a jury.  In other words, he believed there was a very high chance that the jury would find the police negligent in engaging in a shootout so close to where a large number of bystanders were positioned.  There were six police officers present and four of them determined it was too dangerous to return gun fired at the armed motorcycle rider.

The bullet that struck Kellner lodged in her lunge and was too dangerous to remove.  So identifying exactly who fired the bullet that hit her was not possible.  However, clearly the angle of her entry wound and position of the police officers who were shooting no doubt indicated one of the policemen likely the source of the bullet that injured Kellner.

Police are put in tough situations and asked to make tough judgment calls.  But they need to protect innocent people first, before apprenhending criminals.  In this case, two officers made the wrong choice and hurt an innocent person.  The city has paid for the mistake, the system has worked it out, and now everyone can move on.