St. Louis area readers will most likely remember the lethal rampage almost two years ago at a Kirkwood City Coucnil meeting. The shooting, by Charles Lee "Cookie" Thortnon--who seemed to have borne a more or less perpetual series of grievances against the City Council, claimed five victims immediately (plus Thornton, who was killed by police), and Mayor Mike Swoboda, who died several months later as a result of his wounds.
What brings this up again now is the fact that an unarmed security guard has been named in a lawsuit for failing to stop the killer.
A lawsuit faults an unarmed private security officer for allowing Charles "Cookie" Thornton into a Kirkwood City Council meeting the night he fatally shot six people and was killed by police.
An attorney for the daugher of one of the victims seems to claim that the guard, Ronald L. Whitehead, should have taken Thornton's angry relationship with the City Council into consideration, and based on that consideration, apparently should have prevented Thornton from entering . . . somehow (this was after Thornton had already killed a police officer in the parking lot, and taken his gun).
When Thornton first arrived outside, Mr. Whitehead did go upstairs and alert the police officer providing secuity inside (that officer was also killed later in the rampage). Beyond that, what would the plaintiffs have had Mr. Whitehead do?
While I certainly can understand having some doubts about the efficacy of unarmed "security," the City Council, presumably, knew that Mr. Whitehead was unarmed when they hired the services of the secuity company (Whelan Security) for which he worked.
Is Mr. Whitehead being sued, in effect, for being unarmed? If so, that would seem to have the potential to have an interesting effect on the "guns at work" debate.
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Comments
Other than questioning the judgment of anyone who would actually consent to be employed as an UNARMED "security" guard, what's tragic is that this guy is going to risk total ruin from such a suit--regardless of its outcome. As we observe the wolves in the pack starting to turn on themselves and eat their own (which in its own way is a good sign, that the insanity cannot support itself any more), what will get lost is that a man's life may very well be destroyed over it.
Sadly, it's possible it may be a simple setup. Just think of what the state has to gain, if it can establish that blame can be shifted to a private hireling...and one required to be disarmed at that.
My word, they could do anything they wanted with a precedent like that.
Oh, yeah, wait...they already do. Sorry, my bad.
This suit is ridiculous - "Cookie" was a regular at these meetings and well known for having disagreements with the city. Plus, it's freaking Kirkwood, no one back then would have felt the least bit unsafe at a city hall meeting. The woman with the lawsuit is just angry about her personal loss and looking to punish someone for it. Cookie is dead, so she can't rail against him.
I hope she can find closure in some other fashion.
She could find closure if she would just grow the Hell up.
There's no money in that, Straightarrow.
He should sue her for letting her father be a politician and screwing the people of the town!!
I used to work for said security company. I sure hope he's not counting on them to back him up in a court case. They will cover their ass and leave him out to dry just like they did in my case.
First question, is Whitehead a Licensed Security Guard or just a Licensed Watchman. Security Guards can get a permit to carry a gun on duty if the company & the location they are working for allow them to carry. And Security Guards are also only allowed to make arrest if the company they are working for (in this case Kirkwood) allows it. Did the City allow Whiteman to carry Did they allow him to make arrest? I doubt if they did since they have city police officers at these meetings. If not he's no more responsible than other citizen in that room. Sounds like he did all he could by alerting the Police officer on duty to keep an eye on Cookie. Sounds to me that the daughters lawyer knows it will be nearly impossible to win against the city so he chose to go after the little guy.
Could it finally be time to acknowlege the benefits of tort reform might extend to more than just national health care?
"First, we kill all the lawyers." - Wm. Shakespeare
Harry, thanks for the information. As for your questions (and they're good questions), I don't have any answers. I'll see if I can find out, but I'm not especially hopeful.
If everything in this article is correct a responsible lawyer would have refused the case in the first place. Secondly the guard should be contersuing both the daughter and her lawyer for abuse. Third the company should be held to the deep pockets policy thus making them responsible for all financial losses regardless of who is at fault (company or employee). That usually makes companies much more responsible about what jobs they take and what they agree to in the performance of the job. Just when you think humans have demonstrated the ultimate in stupidity along comes someone like this to raise the bar again. While you can have sympathy for daughter there is no excuse for being stupid. Instead of being grateful he managed to keep himself alive being unarmed everyone now wants to make him suffer for surviving. I hope he makes a lot of money on a countersuit against his company, the daughter, the city, and the daughter's lawyer.
weak! anything for a buck! but, what do we know? we're not as enlightened as the loons in kirkwood!
Apparently, liberals really DO believe they can control cause and effect with legislation and opinion. "We don't think guards need to carry a gun to be effective, and if one is ineffective when unarmed, it must be HIS fault, so we'll just sue him." D'oh!
You can have "unarmed" OR you can have "security". You can't have both.
Daughter should be sued for not supplying speed dial 911. That would have prevented this. She did not, obviously she didn't care for her parent. Drag her ass into court and punish her for her criminal negligence.
Sounds stupid, doesn't it? But it is as valid as her suit.
Yes, I remember this crime. It was an act of blatant racist mass-murder. Why doesn't the "Examiner" mention that fact? Imagine this site doing a story on the murder of James Byrd without mentioning the racial aspects of it.
@George 7345: George, Thornton's motive, whatever it was, isn't relevant to the article (the lawsuit against the unarmed guard). This column is about gun rights--not racial issues. Granted, those two issues tend to intersect a lot, but that's nor what's going on here.
The police are not required to protect any individual and according to Missouri state law the only other people allowed to carry for their protection are government officials (can't have the little people protecting themselves in the presence of their betters).
Since the town council chose not to avail themselves of their special priviledge of armed self-defense then it's their own fault that they were not able to put up a measured response to the threat.
The security guard performed his duty when he alerted the armed officer in chambers about the possible threat he should not be subjected to this suit. If any suit is brought to bear the daughter should be suing the members and estates of the council members for not providing adequate defense to the unarmed citizens who didn't have a choice in the matter.
joe fucile is half right, the only individuals police are required to "protect and serve" are fellow police officers. i wonder if these armed thugs are upset that the crips color is also blue... (no offense is meant to the numerous but outnumbered decent human beings who serve in LE who want nothing more than a safe and peaceful community for family friends and neighbors)
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