EXCLUSIVE: Attorney for family of teen murdered in Seattle’s ‘occupied zone’ speaks out about new lawsuit against city

Papers filed with Horace's separate $1 billion claims against the city, King County and the state of Washington, allege that Lorenzo was shot multiple times and "laid bleeding to death in the Seattle streets with no one to respond."

"With no assistance or rescue from Seattle first responders, Lorenzo died in agony from his wounds," claim the documents filed by Horace's lawyer Evan Oshan.

Claim papers allege that Seattle officials had allowed "politically charged armed, anarchist protesters to infiltrate, takeover, and govern a part of downtown Seattle," and King County and the Governor, "did not intervene and stop this state of lawlessness."

In an interview with The Post Millennial, Oshan said that "…we've put the city of Seattle, the county of King and the state of Washington on notice. It's a precurser to a lawsuit… we believe that the residents, and specifically Lorenzo here was not being given a safe environment and it was made unsafe by various government officials."

"This was an unsafe zone that was created," Oshan said. "The East Precinct was given up, it was viewed as the 'summer of love' which ultimately turned into the summer of blood, multiple people were killed either in or around the zone, it was just lawlessness."

Oshan acknowledges that the Public Duty Doctrine which is typically used as a defense to claims against state and local governmental entities may play a role in the case, but right now he and his team are in the discovery phase, trying to piece together everything that transpired to "…better define our legal theories." Interestingly, an exemption to the Public Duty Doctrine is failure to enforce the Rescue Doctrine.

"We've put the appropriate governmental entities on notice" says Oshan, "we're giving them an opportunity to come back at us and tell us what they think."

"I don't want to make a rush to judgment but we are preparing for the event of filing a lawsuit of we need to."

When asked it the eventual suits might list public officials by name, Oshan responded "It's very possible… we want to do this methodically, carefully and correctly. We don't want to name anybody or any entity that's inappropriately named."

Oshan continued "This is a very very important case for many reason and we want to be careful and do it just right."

Oshan told TPM that Horace was not able to see his son for over a week after the shooting. "He was left in the dark, the city didn't even reach out to him. In fact, President Trump reached out to him before the city did."

Oshan said that this is an important case because "it will be an example case, a case where it's of a punitive nature, there needs to be a punishment here, this can't go on, it's something that has shaken not only Seattle, but the entire country has now been shaken. We need to have a situation where we are being protected by the government and this just can't go on."

The papers allege that confusion and blockades, led to a 20-minute delay before first responders finally arrived on scene. According to witnesses, this was after "CHOP Medics" had already taken Lorenzo to the hospital in a private vehicle which was able to navigate the city installed blockade.

Seattle city safety protocols prevent first responders into an area of a shooting until the area has been secured by the Seattle Police Department, who were denied entry to the CHOP.

"I just want to see justice for my son," Horace, Sr. told the New York Post, noting that no arrests had been made yet in his son's killing.

"Somebody has to be held responsible. Something is not right and my son should still be alive to this day."

Horace continued "He didn't have help. He needed help, he needed me and I wasn’t there for him."

City, county and state representatives are unable to comment since the claim is currently under review.