A new lawsuit accuses Veterans Affairs police officials of negligence that allowed a suspended officer to steal the weapon he used to kill his wife, son and himself in Kansas City’s Northland last year.
Claims in the lawsuit mirror conclusions reached by federal investigators, who determined lax security allowed Jerel McGeachy Sr. to access an arms room at a Leavenworth VA site where he worked as a police officer, after a court order barred him from having a gun. Police took away his law enforcement credentials and shifted him to an administrative role because of the order, but police officials allowed McGeachy Sr. to retain access to the arms room, officials said.
The wrongful death lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kansas, on Thursday, is being brought by Topeka’s Michelle Smith, the mother of Domonique McGeachy and the grandmother of Jerel McGeachy Jr., who were killed in the double murder-suicide. The lawsuit is seeking $10 million in damages from the federal government…