Judge dismisses civil suit claims from Western Psych shooting victim

Victims of a shooting spree two years ago at Western Psychiatric Institute & Clinic have no basis to sue the gunman's mother or doctors who treated him, an Allegheny County judge ruled on Wednesday, leaving unresolved only the question of whether UPMC had proper security measures at the hospital.

Common Pleas Court Judge R. Stanton Wettick threw out claims made against the mother of John Shick, who opened fire at the clinic, and his doctors, along with most claims against UPMC, which owns Western Psych.

Shick, 30, of Oakland killed a therapist and wounded four on March 8, 2012, before police shot and killed him.

Former hospital receptionist Kathryn Leight, 66, of Shaler, whom Shick shot and wounded, and other victims sued his mother, Susan Shick, the University of Pittsburgh Physicians and UPMC.

“While Ms. Shick is being criticized for her failure to take charge of her son, under tort law she was not required to do so, because tort law does not impose a duty on a parent of an adult child to control the conduct of that child so as to prevent the child from causing physical harm to another,” Wettick wrote.

Leight and her attorney declined to comment.

Susan Shick lives on a boat she sails with her husband. Her attorneys released a statement that said, “Despite difficult and trying circumstances for all parties involved in this tragic event, we are pleased that Judge Wettick reached the correct decision.” They declined further comment.

Wettick left open the issue of security measures at Western Psych, including lack of bulletproof glass around the lobby's receptionist desk.

“We're very gratified to have the vast majority of the lawsuit dismissed,” said John C. Conti, an attorney representing UPMC. “... This is unquestionably a very tragic incident in the history of our city, but, at the same time, as the judge's opinion makes clear, trying to shift responsibility for the incident from the individual to a third party, to a health care provider, is simply not justified under law.”

Conti said he believes the remaining claim against UPMC eventually will be dismissed.

Both sides in the lawsuit will spend six to nine months deposing witnesses and gathering evidence before filing another round of motions, Conti said.

Other civil claims stemming from the shootings were settled or dismissed.

Wettick dropped claims against AM-GARD Security last month when research showed the company had no involvement.

A $500,000 insurance payment, to be split among eight victims — including the family of Michael Schaab, 25, of Regent Square, whom Shick shot to death — will settle lawsuits against Shick's estate, attorneys said.

The settlement is pending an affidavit from Shick's mother, sent to Wettick on May 20, stating that her son had no other money.

The plaintiffs claimed UPMC doctors missed several opportunities to commit Shick to a mental facility. Two doctors at Shadyside Family Health Center asked Western Psych for involuntary commitment papers but didn't follow through with filing them, the lawsuit stated. Shick, diagnosed as schizophrenic during involuntary commitments in New York and Oregon, began seeing doctors at UPMC's Shadyside Family Health Center in 2011, when he moved to Pittsburgh to begin graduate school at Duquesne University. The school expelled him in October 2011 because he harassed female students.

On Feb. 10, 2012, he brought a baseball bat into Shadyside Family Health Center and banged it on the counter. He turned away a team that went to his apartment. Shick brought a baseball bat to an appointment with a UPMC surgeon on Feb. 20, 2012, using it as a cane. He again refused treatment from a mobile crisis team.

Wettick ruled that doctors who treated Shick during previous visits to Western Psych were not responsible for his shooting spree because their care is not covered under state mental health laws. Shick received voluntary, outpatient treatment, which does not entitle third parties to hold physicians responsible, Wettick said.

Bruce Antkowiak, director of the criminology and law program at St. Vincent College near Latrobe, said it's difficult to hold doctors and hospitals legally liable for saying they should have known something would happen, or that they didn't do enough.

Psychiatrists profess to diagnose patients at a specific point in time, not to chart future behavior, said Antkowiak, who is not involved in the case.

“Suing someone on the basis of not being able to predict an individual's response to an illness is difficult,” he said. “You have to prove more than (that) they knew the guy had a special mental condition.”

Leight and other victims who joined in the lawsuit argued that UPMC should have known that some patients entering the lobby of Western Psych posed a risk to people working at the receptionist desk. Conti said UPMC is confident that everyone involved acted appropriately.

Aaron Aupperlee and Bobby Kerlik are Trib Total Media staff writers. Reach Aupperlee at 412-320-7986 or aaupperlee@tribweb.com and Kerlik at 412-320-7886 or bkerlik@tribweb.com.