Psychiatrist sued over US cinema attack
2013-01-17 08:01
Los Angeles -The widow of a victim of the US theatre
massacre is suing a psychiatrist for neglect, for failing to have the alleged
shooter arrested despite him having "fantasised about killing a lot of
people".
The lawsuit, also citing the University of Colorado, alleges
that Dr Lynne Fenton advised campus police about her concern regarding James
Holmes, after he told her about the fantasy in June last year.
They offered to apprehend him for psychiatric assessment,
but she declined, and he went on to open fire on a Colorado movie theatre weeks
later on 20 July, killing 12 people and injuring at least 58.
Holmes, a neuroscience doctoral student in the process of
leaving the colleague, told Fenton "on June 11, 2012, that he fantasised
about killing a lot of people", said the lawsuit.
'Reasonable care'
Fenton "knew that James Holmes was dangerous" and
"had a duty to use reasonable care to protect the public at large from
James Holmes", said the document, filed by Chantel Blunk, whose husband
Jonathan died in the shooting.
"Defendant Fenton was presented with the opportunity to
use such reasonable care when the Colorado University Police offered to
apprehend James Holmes on a psychiatric hold," it said.
But it alleged that Fenton alleged "rejected the
idea" and therefore "breached her duty to use reasonable care".
Holmes, now 25, was ordered last week to stand trial over
the massacre, one of the worst ever mass shootings in modern US history, which
revived America's perennial debate over gun control.
In a statement responding to the lawsuit, filed on Monday,
the University of Colorado Denver said it "has great sympathy for the
victims of the Aurora theatre shooting and their families.
"But in our initial review of this case, the University
believes this lawsuit is not well-founded legally or factually," it added.
On Wednesday President Barack Obama called for the revival
of an assault weapons ban and universal background checks for gun buyers, in
the wake of last month's Newtown, Connecticut school shooting.
Obama signed 23 executive actions, using his presidential
power in a swift effort to check a rash of gun violence including the killings
of 20 young children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
