Claim filed in classroom shooting that injured three
SEASIDE >> Students injured earlier this year when a teacher’s gun went off inside a Seaside High classroom have filed a claim against the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District and the Sand City Police Department.
The Monterey-based personal injury firm Dunnion Law said in a Thursday news release that the March 13 shooting involving then-teacher and reserve police officer Dennis Alexander helped underscore unsafe school environments that thousands of students across the country were protesting as part of the national “March for Our Lives” movement
“The students, and parents, who have brought this case forward should be commended for taking the brave step of questioning existing policies,” said Dunnion Law CEO Connell Dunnion.
“By doing so,” he continued, “they are helping to initiate change that can prevent other students from suffering similar, if not more catastrophic, results.”
The school district and police department have 45 days to respond to the claim, which was filed Aug. 13, according to the law firm. A lawsuit could follow if the claim is rejected.
“At their August 21st (Sand City City Council) meeting the council denied the claims and directed it (to) its insurance company for review. It is still pending. I assume these matters take some time,” said Todd Bodem, city administrator of Sand City, in an email.
“In accordance with district policy, we are unable to discuss any specifics related to pending litigation,” said Monterey Peninsula Unified School District spokeswoman Marci McFadden.
Dunnion Law spokeswoman Flo Zeuthen said the goal of the claim is to recover expenses incurred for the medical injuries that were sustained in the shooting incident as well as other damages for three students and their parents. Zeuthen could not say what that amount would be.
Alexander, the teacher and reserve police officer for Sand City, accidentally discharged his service weapon, a Glock 21 .45-caliber handgun, while teaching a room full of students about gun safety.
A half-ounce lead slug struck a steel beam in the ceiling and exploded into shrapnel that ricocheted down on the students, injuring three students. One student sustained a injury to the neck and another had a frament lodge in his right eyebrow, an inch from his eye. That fragment was surgically removed.
Alexander resigned from both posts shortly after the shooting.
The Monterey County District Attorney’s Office did not charge Alexander with a criminal offense, but he was charged with the infraction of leaving his handgun in an unattended vehicle.