Scranton Police Detective suing for long-term damages

SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)— A Scranton Police Detective, who was critically injured in a January shooting, is now suing the parents of his accused shooter.

Detective Kyle Gilmartin was shot twice in the head, and is now seeking $100,000 in damages.

The lawsuit claims that despite knowing their son’s violent tendencies, Alex and Crystal Eastman left the firearm they own unsupervised and unsecured.

“There’s no count in the lawsuit that’s blaming them for having responsibility for their adult son, the lawsuit is blaming them for having responsibility for maintaining their gun,” stated Brandon Swarts, Gilmartin’s Attorney.

The lawsuit accuses Alex and Crystal Eastman, the parents of 21-year-old Aiden Deininger, of negligence for leaving a black Ruger LCR Revolver unsecured on a table in their home.

That firearm was allegedly used by Deininger to fire five shots at Gilmartin’s police cruiser on January 11, two of which struck the officer in the head.

Gilmartin survived but is still recovering, and is unable to return to his role as a detective.

“He’s totally disabled from performing that job, he does have aspirations one day recovering enough to return, but that’s a long way off. He’s had a brutal, brutal recovery period,” said Swartz.

The lawsuit outlines Gilmartin’s loss of future earnings, pain, and suffering, which will impact his quality of life. Although the Eastmans’ didn’t fire the shots, the gun used belonged to them and was unsecured, leading to their liability in the lawsuit.

“He had easy access combined with the fact that they knew that he had otherwise a bad propensity, so if that bad propensity was to commit crimes or to commit violent crimes, they knew he had a bad propensity,” explained Swartz.

Swartz adds that the eastmans’ parental relationship to deininger is irrelevant. What matters is their failure to properly secure the firearm.

“So for instance here, if his parents did not own the gun, they would have no liability on what happened. But here because they own the gun and they allowed him easy access to the gun. In other words, he didn’t break into some sort of gun safe or something like that as far as we know to get the gun, that is why they are [Liable]. We’re holding them culpable for what happened,” stated Swartz.

Gilmartin, who is still recovering from his injuries, is seeking $100,000 in damages for medical expenses, loss of future earnings, and long-term suffering.

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