WASHINGTON, July 21 (Reuters) – Lawyers for a bystander wounded in a shootout between the U.S. Secret Service and a man outside the White House in May said they would file a personal injury lawsuit against the federal agency on Tuesday.
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Benjamin Del Real, Jr., 25, of Kansas, was on leave from active U.S. Army duty on May 23 and walking with his sister and father when shots rang out in front of the White House, according to a statement from Clifford Law Offices. Del Real, who was shot in the abdomen, said the gunman never faced him but Secret Service agents fired many rounds in his direction across a busy intersection, the law firm said. Del Real underwent life-saving surgery at a local hospital, it said.
A gunman who fired at a White House checkpoint on that day was shot by officers and died after being taken to the hospital , the Secret Service said at the time. The Secret Service statement said a bystander was struck by gunfire, but it did not make clear how badly the person was hurt or provide other details.
“Certainly it is the job of Secret Service agents to protect the president and other dignitaries, but that duty must be carried out with reasonable regard for the safety of innocent members of the public,” lawyer Joseph Murphy said in the statement. “Ben and his family had every right to be there. They had no body armor, no protection, and no warning before Ben was struck by gunfire.”
Notice of the lawsuit, to be filed under the federal Tort Claims Act, requests that evidence including firearms and shell casings and surveillance video be preserved, the statement said.
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(Reporting by Doina Chiacu, Editing by Franklin Paul)
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