Community Corner
Report: Family of Reston Navy Yard Shooting Victim Files Lawsuit Against Government
The family of Mary Frances DeLorenzo Knight, Reston resident and victim in the Navy Yard shooting, has filed a lawsuit against the Navy, the Department of Veterans Affairs and two government contractors..
The family of Mary Frances DeLorenzo Knight, a Reston resident who was one of 12 people killed Sept. 16 by Aaron Alexis at the Washington Navy Yard, has filed suit against the government.
The Washington Post reports the lawsuit claims the federal government "failed to secure the Southeast D.C. facility and failed to respond appropriately to the myriad signs of mental health issues the shooter exhibited in the months and years before the massacre."
Alexis shot and killed 12 people Sept. 15 before being killed himself.
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The suit, which names the Navy, the Department of Veterans Affairs and two government contractors as defendants, was filed in Tampa, Fl., where Knight's sister lives.
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"Sidney L. Matthew, an attorney for the Knight family, said while the facts are detailed, the case itself is “simple.” The U.S. government and its various contractors should have noticed the many warning signs of Alexis’s instability before issuing him a security clearance. And failing that, they should have installed a metal detector at the Navy Yard to prevent someone from getting inside with a gun."
Matthew told My Fox Tampa Bay that the suit is also aimed at enacting widespread changes.
"You can't go inside the White House without a metal detector, the Smithsonian without a metal detector, any of the courthouses without a metal detector," Matthew said.
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