Suit Filed in Shooting Death of Student
The family of an 18-year-old college freshman who was shot to death by gang members last September at Fairfax High School filed a wrongful death suit Friday against the Los Angeles Unified School District.
The suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that school officials knew, or should have known, that gang members were wandering about the campus with guns and should have taken measures to protect students.
Tony Breye Thompson, who suffered from dyslexia, had returned to the high school Sept. 12 to thank Linda Brooks, a former teacher, for her help in overcoming Thompson’s speech and reading disabilities enough to enter college that fall.
According to the lawsuit filed by his mother, La Tricia Thompson, he had stopped to use a public telephone at 2:15 p.m. when an argument arose among students in the hallway. One or more of the students drew a gun and began firing, and Thompson was fatally shot in the back.
Two Fairfax students, ages 16 and 17, were arrested in connection with Thompson’s killing. Their names were not released because they are juveniles, but authorities said at the time of the shooting that they were believed to be gang members. Thompson did not belong to a gang.
The suit seeks unspecified damages. A school district spokesman said attorneys for the district could not comment because they had not seen the suit.
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