Family of Bremerton girl shot at school sues district
Aug 15, 2012, 12:09 PM | Updated: 2:41 pm
The family of a Bremerton girl shot in her classroom is suing the school district and the family of the boy who brought the gun to class.
Amina Bowman, 9, suffered critical injuries when the gun went off on Feb. 22 at Armin Jahr Elementary. She underwent a number of surgeries and faces a lifetime of recovery.
The attorney for the family, Jeffery Campiche, said the school and the district failed to heed a number of warnings the boy planned to bring a weapon to school.
“Many children in the interview there stated to the police that they had heard he was going to bring a gun to school,” Campiche said at a news conference.
He said the boy had been involved in several bullying incidents and suspended the week before the shooting for fighting.
“A school has to provide sufficient security so that our children are safe there,” Campiche said.
While police originally reported the gun went off when the boy set his backpack down, the $10 million claim says the boy admitted to police he had his hand on the gun when it discharged.
Bowman’s family is also suing the boy’s father, mother, her boyfriend, and uncle for allowing him access to a “veritable arsenal” of semi-automatic weapons, including the .45 caliber handgun used in the shooting.
“They should have raised the child so that he recognized the wrongness of taking a gun to school,” Campiche said.
The boy’s mother Jamie Chaffin, a convicted felon, previously reached a plea agreement on weapons charges with the Kitsap County Prosecutor. Her boyfriend Douglas Bauer has appealed an assault charge filed against him.
Bowman’s mother Terri said Amina has changed since the shooting and faces a number of struggles both physical and emotional.
“We don’t get to do a lot of outdoor activities because she experiences a lot of fatigue. Seeing her struggle as her parents is very, very hard,” she said, wiping away tears at the news conference.
“I’m upset” said her father John. “It’s kind of a conscious decision to leave your guns laying around.”
Campiche said in addition to helping provide for Amina’s care and to give her as much opportunity as possible at a “normal life”, he hopes the suit will prompt changes at the school and across the country.
“You don’t just hope, you trust they will keep themselves up to speed on what the standard is to provide the safe school. We trust the public officials to do their job,” he said.
