Lawsuit: Surgeon left needle inside patient, who later died 2 die in Colorado shooting that left police officer injured

The family of a Tennessee man who died shortly after a surgeon left a needle inside his chest cavity has sued the hospital.

The Tennessean reports 73-year-old John Burns Johnson had open heart surgery at TriStar Centennial Hospital on May 2017. After about nine hours of surgery, a surgeon closed his chest only to discover one of his needles was missing. An X-ray revealed it was inside Johnson. The surgeon then tried to retrieve the needle but was unsuccessful.

Johnson died about a month after the surgery. The lawsuit says Johnson’s health deteriorated and described his death as “painful, unnecessary and wrongful.”

The hospital released a statement saying it would not respond to the lawsuit’s claims, but noted it is serious about caring for patients and empathizes with the family.

Police say two people have died after being shot in a Denver suburb at the start of a gunbattle that also injured a police officer and a person suspected of that shooting.

Aurora police said Saturday that the men who died and the officer were shot Friday evening near the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

Police said officers were investigating a reported fight when they heard gunshots. They found several people, including a juvenile, had been hurt.

The department said another person then fired at police.

The wounded officer has been released from the hospital.

The suspect and a juvenile who were injured remained at hospitals. No information has been released on their conditions or on the identities of those involved, including the officer. —The Associated Press