Seattle Will Pay $500,000 to Settle Wrongful Death Lawsuit Over Autonomous Zone Shooting
16th June 2022
Seattle authorities have agreed to pay $500,000 to settle a lawsuit that pinned the 2020 shooting death of a man at the autonomous zone on city officials.
The case concerned Lorenzo Anderson, a 19-year-old who was shot near the edge of the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, also known as CHOP or CHAZ.
Authorities had allowed the zone to operate largely on its own, removing police officers from the area and refusing to send officers or firefighters in when disturbances were reported.
When Anderson was shot on June 20, 2020, it took 30 minutes for first responders to reach him, according to the suit. “By that time, it was too late,” it said.
Horace Anderson, Lorenzo’s father, filed the suit against the city, Mayor Jenny Durkan, a Democrat, and Councilwoman Kshama Sawant, a socialist.