Father of Girl Shot in Face Files Lawsuit

The father of a 12-year-old girl shot in the face accidentally by a friend said Tuesday he is suing the owner of the gun in a bid not only for monetary damages but also to send a message about the risk of having a loaded weapon within reach of children.

John Johannessen, whose 12-year-old daughter, Shanelle, was injured in the shooting one month ago, blasted the decision by the Orange County district attorney’s office last week not to prosecute the adult responsible for bringing a loaded weapon into the house where his daughter was visiting.

“The district attorney has not done the right thing,” Johannessen said. “This is something that should have been prosecuted. It should not be washed away. This could have been prevented, and somehow we have to send the message so people can realize the dangers of guns.”

The civil suit, which Johannessen’s lawyer filed Monday, seeks unspecified compensation for medical care resulting from the shooting, as well as psychological trauma inflicted on the Johannessen family.

Police say gun owner Eric Braun left the gun inside a briefcase locked in the trunk of his car. But his girlfriend, Sue Curtis, brought the briefcase inside the house and placed it in an empty bedroom downstairs, police say.

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Supervising Deputy Dist. Atty. Bruce Patterson, who investigated the case, said it was not clear that either of the adults, Braun or Curtis, showed criminal negligence.

Even though Curtis knew the gun was inside the briefcase, the couple had warned the child, who is Curtis’ daughter, various times not to touch the weapon, Patterson said. In addition, if charges were filed, the 13-year-old who fired the weapon would have to testify against her mother. That would bring more pain to a child who is already suffering from the guilt of having shot her friend, Patterson said.

“We haven’t gotten any additional information . . . to show that there was reckless disregard,” Patterson said. “That is what we are bound to look at.”

Gary Kessler, Johannessen’s lawyer, said the suit names Braun, Curtis and the young girl who shot the weapon. The suit alleges that all three were guilty of negligence for storing a 9-millimeter semiautomatic gun in an unlocked briefcase.

Johannessen said prosecutors are protecting Braun, who is licensed to carry a weapon and is an investigator with the U.S. Department of Defense’s Mission Viejo office. “If that was my gun, I’d be in jail right now,” he said.

Johannessen said the decision not to file charges flies in the face of a 1991 state law making adults criminally responsible if they leave a loaded firearm within reach of a child 13 years old or younger who then fires the weapon and causes injury or death.

Luis Tolley, western director for the nonprofit Handgun Control Inc.--which in a rare political alliance joined the National Rifle Assn. in backing the bill--also criticized the district attorney’s decision in the Johannessen case.

“This is not an ambiguous law,” Tolley said. “It is the adult who left that gun loaded where a child could find it that should be held responsible. By failing to prosecute this case, which appears to be a cut-and-dry case, what message is the district attorney’s office sending?”

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Meantime, Shanelle Johannessen is still coping with the physical and emotional scars of the shooting.

She cannot eat solid food because her jaw is wired shut. Her meals consist of liquefied macaroni and cheese and berry smoothies taken through a straw. Her right cheek still bears the scars from the bullet wound, and her face is still swollen from the operations and the trauma.

Shanelle, who still dreams of becoming a model, said she cannot forgive her friend for having fired the gun. “I can’t because of the things I’ve had to go through,” she said.

At the same time, she said she and her family are eager to put the ordeal behind them. “We are just taking it day by day,” said her mother, Diane Johannessen. “The bullet damaged a nerve and so she might come out with a crooked smile. But at least she’s alive. I just want her to come out of this all right, a stronger person.”