2 weeks Ago
The family of an Oregon hospital security guard who was shot to death while protecting a maternity ward from an attacker during the summer of 2023 is suing the medical facility for $35m in damages, saying it ignored warning signs that could have prevented the killing if addressed. In the days before the killing of 44-year-old Bobby Smallwood made international news headlines, staffers at Portland's Legacy Good Samaritan hospital made five separate complaints to administrators against the man later charged with his murder, PoniaX Calles, according to the lawsuit from the victim's family, which was filed on Tuesday. Calles allegedly threatened violence and tried to strike a nurse while saying, "If you guys keep acting like this, someone is going to get killed around here" – after accompanying his partner to the hospital on 19 July.
All were clear violations of Legacy's policy prohibiting workplace violence and should have resulted in Calles's immediate removal, but administrators initially responded to the complaints by providing "support options" over email, the lawsuit prepared by attorney Tom D'Amore's office alleged. According to the suit, nurses resolved to have Calles removed from the hospital on the morning of 22 July. Smallwood was working that day as an unarmed guard and had received instructions to wait nearby in the hallway while other.
.. Ramon Antonio Vargas.
