Wrongful Death Suit Filed Against Attala County Fire in Strange Tragedy
The Attala County, Mississippi Fire Department is being sued for wrongful death in a strange case that resulted in the tragic death of an 18 year old college student, apparently run over by a fire truck dispatched to help him.
Benjamin Russell was driving home from East Holmes Community College on April 13th, 2009 in his 1999 Ford Explorer when he swerved to avoid a deer and struck a tree. The accident deployed the vehicle's air bag, knocking the wind out of him. He called his father, who in turn called the fire department.
The Russell family alleges that one of the responding fire trucks ran over Benjamin, killing him. A grand jury reviewed the case but declined to bring criminal charges against the firefighters involved. The wrongful death suit is civil in nature and seeks monetary damages from the county.
A motion for summary judgment was granted on July 8, 2011 dismissing the civil claims against the fire department.
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This is ridiculous. The driver of the fire truck should have been paying attention. But an accident did occur. What is wrong is that they lied about it for a full week. One of the firemen eventually came clean about what happened. If they were stand up people they would have admitted it at the scene instead of making a ivestigation occur.