Posted on 03/31/2004 3:58:08 PM PST by Auntie Mame
Do you remember the lawyer who got shot in front of the TV cameras last year as he ducked behind and tree and dodged the bullets? Well, here's the rest of the story.
SURVIVING A SHOOTING
My morning began like any other workday on Friday, October 31, 2003. I was looking forward to seeing my eight-year-old twin daughters, Alexandrea and Danielle, dress up and go trick or treating that night. I arrived at my office around 7:30 and prepared for a 9:00 a.m. appearance in the Van Nuys court on a trust matter. I made the appearance, spoke with my client, and left the courthouse just after 10.
As I exited the courthouse, I turned to walk down a concrete path leading to the parking structure across the street. As I turned, a man approached me and asked, “Are you Mr. Curry?” I replied, “Yes, who are you?” The man then shot me without warning at point-blank range. I didn’t see a gun; I just remember hearing a loud pop. I knew I had been shot without knowing exactly where I was hit. Instinctively, I turned away from the shooter and went down on all fours to scramble away.
Then I got up to run. I had a choice to zigzag or to seek protection behind a nearby tree. I was afraid that if I ran, I would be shot in the back and the shooter would then come to finish the job. I ran behind the tree, hoping to protect my head and torso from the bullets. I remember feeling great fear as the man approached the tree with the gun in his outstretched arm. I knew that my life could end right then and there.
The gunman began firing. I remember feeling the impact of the bullets in my arms and shoulders without feeling any pain. I held onto the tree with both hands, moving back and forth as he moved the gun from one side of the tree to the other trying to shoot me. I then heard a “click, click, click” and felt great relief because I realized he was out of bullets. (I learned later that he had a second loaded gun in his pocket.) The shooter then calmly put the gun back in his pocket and began to walk away.
I walked back onto the path, holding my arms up to get attention. After about 30 seconds a few people came to assist me. I remember someone telling me to lie down and a security guard placing his hand over my neck wound to control the bleeding. An ambulance arrived within ten minutes.
In the emergency room I was told I had been hit with five bullets. I learned later that the bullets were .38 caliber. The first shot went in the right side of my neck and lodged in the back of my neck next to the spinal column. My doctor informed me that the bullet had missed my carotid artery by about half an inch. If it had hit the artery, I would have bled to death in one to two minutes. He also said the bullet missed my spine by about one inch. If it had severed the spine, I would have been a quadriplegic.
A second bullet entered my right forearm and traveled to my upper arm, lodging near the triceps muscle. A third bullet went in and out of my upper left shoulder. A fourth bullet apparently went in my left upper arm as I was holding the tree and exited my back. The fifth bullet grazed the left side of my underarm. Today, the bullets have all been removed, and I am making a good recovery. I am continuing physical therapy for my right hand, where two fingers were affected by the bullet that damaged the muscles and tendons in my right forearm.
Why did this happen to me? The alleged shooter (whom I had never seen or met) was the beneficiary of a special needs trust. I was retained by a professional trustee who had been asked by the beneficiary to serve as trustee. At the beneficiary’s request, we later filed a petition in the probate court asking it to approve my client’s resignation, to appoint the beneficiary’s sister as trustee, and to grant fees for my client and myself. The beneficiary apparently was upset by the court’s approval of my client’s acts as trustee and the fees requested. He had even called my client and threatened to kill her.
My practice is slowly returning to normal, although I am still behind in my work because of all the doctors’ appointments and therapy treatments. Although I was warned at the hospital that I might have flashbacks, none have occurred so far. Emotionally, I feel I am the same as I was prior to the shooting, thanks to the tremendous support of my family, friends, and colleagues. I have been back to the Van Nuys courthouse on at least three occasions since the incident, and each time I walk by that tree I realize how close I cam to losing my life.
Life as we knew it is no longer 'life as we knew it.' Pity.
Thanks again, Auntie Mame!
Not if he was on his way into a courtroom.
Hmmmm. Was it a .38 Special or a .380 ACP? Makes quite a difference, though I'm no big fan of either.
To paraphrase: if God had not wanted him slaughtered, He would not have made Curry a sheep.
Hmmmm. Was it a .38 Special or a .380 ACP? Makes quite a difference, though I'm no big fan of either.
Five shots would be consistant with small concealable revolvers like the very popular .38 *Chief's Special*, the Charter Arms *Undercover* or the Taurus M85/M850 series handguns.
It's of course also possible he had a .380 pistol not loaded to its full magazine capacity, or that the shooter wished to keep a couple of rounds in reserve with which to take care of any interfering bystanders, though he had that second weapon in reserve for that as well.
Sometimes, some news stories fall through the cracks. Especially when there is another story bigger and better that "they" would rather report on.
For instance: what about those college kids that disappeared out in the mid-west? What ever happened to them?
I was surprised that they brought up Jonathan Luna, that attorney that was left in that creek stabbed multiple times? For quite awhile, we didn't hear anything. Then, a week or so ago, they had a press conference. The authorities have NO idea who did this to Luna! They were pleading for help. Now, the story has been silenced.
Even if Luna led a double life, we still would like to know what is happening with the case.
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