SCRANTON, Pa. — Note: The above video is from an earlier story.
A Scranton police detective critically wounded in a shooting this year has filed a lawsuit against the accused gunman’s parents for not taking better care to make sure a revolver did not end up in his hands.
Detective Kyle Gilmartin is seeking at least $100,000 in damages from Alex and Crystal Eastman on claims of negligence and negligent entrustment.
The lawsuit, filed Aug. 8 in Lackawanna County Court, alleges their son, Aiden Deininger, took a Ruger revolver from his home in Nicholson and used it Jan. 11 to twice shoot Gilmartin in the head.
The gun, according to the lawsuit, was left on a table rather than locked in a safe, even though the couple knew their son “had violent propensities as well as a propensity for theft.”
Reached by phone, Crystal Eastman said Saturday she was unaware of the suit and declined to comment. The case’s docket does not include an entry they’ve been served with the complaint.
Deininger, 21, squeezed the five-shot revolver’s trigger five times while pointing its barrel at an unmarked police car a few hours before dawn that winter morning, city police and prosecutors have said.
Gilmartin, 35, was one of three detectives in that car investigating social media livestreams of gang and gun violence in the city.
The police tracked a car believed involved in earlier drive-bys to West Scranton. Videos of the incidents identified its participants as Deininger and Jeremiah Cleveland, 19, police said.
Deininger opened fire as the police moved to make an arrest, authorities charged.
Two bullets struck Gilmartin’s head. Deininger also was shot by police who returned fire.
At a court hearing in June, police officers testified they expected Gilmartin would die. He didn’t.
Gilmartin, however, underwent several surgeries to treat his wounds. He has suffered severe pain and shock, his lawsuit states.
Deininger remains locked up at the Lackawanna County Prison on criminal charges including attempted murder. Cleveland is held at the county jail on charges including soliciting aggravated assault.
Both men are contesting the charges, which remain pending in the county Court of Common Pleas.