Lawsuit filed in Tinley Park shooting
Parents of the alleged shooter named in legal action in Oct. incident
An 18- year- old severely wounded in what was described as an accidental shooting by a friend has filed a lawsuit against the alleged shooter’s family.
Jayson Petrulis was recently released from Loyola University Medical Center following the Oct. 24 shooting inside a Tinley Park home, according to his attorney, Gregory Ladle.
Police said that Petrulis and Robert Cannon, 18, who lives in the home, were hanging out with friends when Cannon pulled the trigger of a gun he believed was unloaded.
Cannon is charged with aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated discharge of a firearm and reckless conduct, according to police. The firearm belonged to Cannon’s parents, according to police.
The lawsuit, filed Nov. 16 in
Will County Circuit Court, alleges that Cannon’s parents, Alvin and LaTonya, were negligent in not securing the firearm and seeks damages in excess of $100,000.
The family did not respond to a message left seeking comment on the lawsuit.
Tinley Park police were called to the home in the 8400 block of South Brook point Court at 12:06 a.m. Oct. 24 and Petrulis was initially taken to Silver Cross
Hospital in New Lenox then transferred to Loyola in critical condition, police said at the time.
According to the lawsuit, Petrulis suffered “severe and extensive injuries to his face, head and upper body” and required several surgeries.
Petrulis and Cannon had known each other for a couple of years and are friends from high school, Ladle said.
Ladle said he does not know what type of gun was used, but as the friends were gathered, according to the complaint, Cannon brought out the firearm, pointed it at Petrulis and the gun “unexpectedly discharged a round,” striking Petrulis in the head.
The injury was initially believed to have been a graze wound, but Petrulis spent more than three weeks in intensive care at Loyola and there is some long-term damage, potentially neurological, as a result of the shooting, the attorney said.
“It’s a horrible situation,” Ladle said. “He still has future surgeries ahead of him.”