KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The family of a man shot and killed aboard an Amtrak train is suing the passenger railroad and the suspect in the killing for at least $100 million, the Kansas City Star reports.
Richie Terell Aaron Jr., 30, was shot aboard the Missouri River Runner on Jan. 14, 2022. His family says in the federal lawsuit that after the shooting occurred at the Lee’s Summit, Mo., station, the train continued on to Independence, Mo., despite pleas from others on board to get attention for Aaron. Upon the train’s arrival in Independence, 35 minutes later, he was pronounced dead by emergency personnel.
Amtrak also failed to provide security measures to prevent firearms from being brought on board the train, the suit alleges.
An Amtrak spokesman told the Associated Press the railroad could not comment on the pending litigation.
Suspect Marquise Webb, 21, of Kansas City, Mo. was arrested following an armed standoff with polie two weeks later. He is accused of second-degree murder and armed criminal action in Aaron’s shooting. He also faces charges of unlawful weapon use and vehicle hijacking for allegedly carjacking a vehicle to flee the shooting scene.
Charles, I respectfully disagree. Any time a person is shot–good guy or bad guy–somebody should call 911 as soon as circumstances allow (i.e., without getting hurt), and follow the operator’s instructions.
Taking the victim on a 35 minute train ride was a very bad decision and presumably unnecessary since the bad guy had fled the scene. This choice greatly limited emergency services’ ability to aid the victim–35 more minutes of bleeding.
I concur the perp is to blame for the shooting, but I maintain (barring some bizarre circumstances not mentioned in the article) that the train crew should have spoken to 911 before doing anything.
Had it happened in the middle of nowhere, the answer might be slightly different, but this shooting happened at the station in a populated city.
I’m sure the court will sort out all the details, and rightly so.
Are you telling me that the no guns allowed sticker failed to deter someone from entering a location armed? And yes, I agree the circumstances of this are tragic.
More like Congress allowing guns to be brought aboard Amtrak trains instead…if you’re going to sue anyone, sue the people that said guns should be allowed onboard trains.
There is no provision by Amtrak (nor Congress) for any firearm to be WITH the passenger during travel.
However, Amtrak is totally to blame for moving the train after the shooting when there was a hospital only TWO MILES from the station.
PATRICK —- Maybe, maybe not. I’d need more information before agreeing to that. Was law enforcement contacted and what instructions did law enforcement give? There is no protocol that a train crew or D/S needs to know the location of the nearest open emergency hospital over its entire route. If you watch the crime shows on streaming, you would know that EMS units are sometimes diverted from one hospital to another depending on local conditions in real time.
Whenever a crime is committed it’s on someone’s property — for example a shooting on a street, the street belongs to the city, the county, the state. Do you sue the city, the county, the state if someone is shot on a street? The entity I hold responsible is the criminal.