SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) - Napa County won't be held liable for three murders committed by a troubled veteran who had taken them hostage.
The California First Appellate District made that ruling on Sept. 8 in two of the three lawsuits brought by the families of victims. The tragedy occurred March 2018 at the Yountville campus of the Veterans Home of California.
Albert Wong took three employees of the facility there, called The Pathway Home. After exchanging fire with a sheriff's deputy, Wong killed Jennifer Golick, Christine Loeber and Jennifer Gonzales Shushereba, then killed himself.
Subsequent lawsuits blamed California entities, as well as Napa County, its sheriff's office and deputy Steve Lombardi. But a trial court judge sustained the county defendants' demurrers that alleged the plaintiffs failed to allege facts establishing a duty of care that was negligently breached.
The plaintiffs alleged Lombardi helped cause the deaths by using deadly force to attempt to subdue Wong.
"If someone had been injured or killed during the exchange of gunfire between Lombardi and Wong, the question of Lombardi’s civil liability might be different. Risk of injury of that kind is what makes an officer’s use of deadly force so dangerous," the decision says.
"As it is, plaintiffs allege a different kind of injury, one in which Lombardi’s use of force was almost incidental. They allege that Wong threatened to kill Pathway employees and subsequently acted on that threat, by arming himself, taking hostages, and—after exchanging shots with Lombardi—killing the hostages and himself.
"These pleaded facts preclude plaintiffs from relying on Deputy Lombardi’s duty to refrain from the unreasonable use of deadly force as a basis for holding the County defendants civilly liable for the wrongful deaths of their loved ones."
Wong became a patient at Pathway in early 2017, and later that year expressed plans to carry out murder and suicide with a gun, leading to his hospitalization in December of that year.
He was booted from the Pathway program in February 2018 for bringing weapons onto campus and expressing extreme anger and frustration with staff. He made specific threats to kill them.
He entered the facility through a boiler room on March 9, 2018, with a semi-automatic rifle equipped with a 20-round magazine, as well as a shotgun. At a group room, he ordered veterans out and released some staff members, but kept the three eventual victims as hostages.
Lombardi responded and fired his rifle through the closed door into the group room, leading to Wong firing back. During 10 seconds, the two men fired 35 rounds. Though a standoff lasted eight hours, an investigation determined Wong killed the hostages after the shootout. Lawsuits allege the murders took place within seconds of it.