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Bloomberg Bodyguard's Shooting Victim Suing The City
By
Jaya Saxena
Published Dec 15, 2010
Modified Dec 15, 2010
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By
Jaya Saxena
Published Dec 15, 2010
Modified Dec 15, 2010
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As they say, no good story about the Mayor's bodyguard shooting someone goes un-lawsuited. LePaul Gammons, the man who was shot by NYPD officer and Bloomberg security guard Leopold McLean, is filing a $5 million suit against the city. McLean, who has been charged with attempted murder, allegedly shot Gammons as he was running away but later said he shot in self defense.
The story goes that McLean's girlfriend, Assia Winfield, called him over after Gammons, her ex-boyfriend, said he was coming to see her. (Winfield had a restraining order against Gammons.) Gammons says he confronted McLean, saying, "You're going to shoot me? Why don't you be a man and fight me?" McLean apparently chose the former, and shot at Gammons as he fled, hitting him in the hip. Then, because he was worried he would be arrested for violating the restraining order, he had a series of spy-movie type correspondences with the Internal Affairs Bureau. He called them up and left only his name and phone number, and later left a plastic bag with his bloody undershirt and boxer shorts inside a phone booth for a detective to pick up later.
Gammons said he is thankful for the IAB's help. "They [the IAB] treated me like a gentleman, like a victim," he said. His lawyer, Sanford Rubenstein, questions whether the NYPD properly screened McLean before accepting him into the force. Gammons said, "It does surprise me that he works for the mayor. I don't think he should be a cop."
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lawsuit
leopold mclean
lepaul gammons
mayor bloomberg
nypd
shooting
Jaya Saxena
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