5 Suits Seek $13.5 Million in Officer's Shooting

              The Times Shreveport/Bossier
14-A *
Wednesday, March 2, 1983 CADDO/BOSSIER
5 suits seek $13.5 million in officer's shooting
By LINDA FARRAR
The Times
Five civil suits were filed Tues-day
in Caddo District Court con-cerning
the March 2,1982, shooting
of on-duty Shreveport Police Of-ficer
Gene Watson. Collectively, the
suits seek more than $13.5 million.
Watson was shot five times with
blasts from his own .357-Magnum
service revolver when an assailant
came from behind and removed
Watson's gun from its holster. The
shooting occured at 7:40 a.m. inside
a 7-Eleven store at Jewella and
Jackson streets.
According to the suits, Watson
suffered severe injuries to his ab-domen,
chest, arm and internal or-gans,
as well as to his psyche.
One of the suits is against the
manufacturer of Watson's holster,
Brauer Brothers Manufacturing
Co. of St. Louis, Mo. This suit, for
$3.8 million, alleges that the holster
was defective and did not provide
adequate safety features to protect
policemen from the risk of Graving
their handguns removed from the
holster by an adversary.
A separate suit against Brauer
Brothers was filed by Watson on
behalf of his wife and four children.
It seeks $510,000 in damages for
Kelley, Shelly and Jacob Watson;
$120,000 for Lisa Kay Carter; and
$410,000 for Nelwyn Watson — for
a total of more than a million
dollars.
Another suit names the convicted
assailant, Robert E. Pettaway, as
defendant. It calls for damages of
$3.8 million for the "unlawful, un-provoked
and vicious assault and
shooting."
Another suit by Watson, claiming
that Pettaway was a "patient with
dangerous tendencies," is aimed at
the doctors and medical agencies
who had previously treated Pet-taway.
It names as defendants Dr.
Norman L. Mauroner, Dr. Ann Ar-retteig,
the Shreveport Mental
Health Clinic, the state of Louisiana
through the Department of Health
and Human Resources and the LSU
Medical Center.
This suit states that Pettaway
was diagnosed as psychotic, para-noid,
schizophrenic, and as
homicidal, suicidal, violent, hostile
and subject to outbursts of temper.
Further, it alleges that despite his
dangerous tendencies and despite
his own request, Pettaway was de-nied
admission and treatment at
LSUMC.
Claiming negligence in the care
and confinement of Pettaway, the
suit asks for $3.8 million in damag-es.
A companion suit filed by Watson
on behalf of his wife and four chil-dren
names the same doctors and
medical agencies. This suit also
charges negligence in allowing Pet-taway
to remain at large.
The suit seeks $510,000 for
Kelley, Shelly and Jacob Watson;
$120,000 for Lisa Kay Carter; and
$410,000 for Mrs. Watson — for a
total of more than a million dollars.
The suits were filed for the
Watsons by Shreveport attorney
Jack M. Bailey Jr.