They were trying to stop a killer, but the cops who opened fire outside the Empire State Building will probably end up costing taxpayers millions in legal damages, experts said.
Lawsuits are inevitable, but the money will likely depend on how badly the five women and four men were hurt — and if any suffer long-term injuries.
“The payouts could number in the six figures” for the victims, said New York civil lawyer Richard Cardinale.
“And a jury could potentially award even more. Just because they weren’t in the hospital doesn’t mean they won’t have long term consequences,” he said.
The victims have to prove that cops could have avoided the collateral damage.
“The issue is, did the police officers act reasonably, or did they put the public in danger? A jury will ultimately answer,” said lawyer Sanford Rubenstein.
“Yes, there’s exposure to the city here,” he added.
It took 16 gunshots to bring down attacker Jeffrey Johnson — but nine innocent bystanders got hit too, making lawsuits inevitable, Rubenstein said.
“The cops had to shoot — you can’t expect a cop to take a bullet to the head,” said lawyer Stephen Meister. But “the cops were almost as good at hitting innocent bystanders as they were at hitting the guy. It’s a lot of shots, and a lot of people.”