Bystander Shot By Police In Subway To File $80M Lawsuit: Reports

BROOKLYN, NY — The family of Gregory Delpeche, one of the two bystanders who was shot by police while they were firing at another man at a train station in Brownsville, is planning to file an $80 million lawsuit against the city, several reports confirmed Thursday.

Delpeche, 49, “remains confined to a hospital bed in a level-one trauma center,” according to the filing, and had to have part of his skull removed to relieve swelling, according to Gothamist.

Delpeche was commuting to work when police opened fire on the Sutter Avenue L train platform on Sept. 15, hitting him and three others while pursuing Derrell Mickles, a man who police say skipped the fare and then threatened officers with a knife.

Bodycam footage shows that police officers, identified as Edmund Mays and Alex Wong, fired tasers at Mickles, which were ineffective, at which point they shot at him with guns while other commuters were nearby.

Mays, Mickles and Delpeche were shot during the incident, as well as one other bystander — a 26-year-old woman.

Delpeche's lawyer, Nicholas Laikas, said in the legal filing that the city is at fault for encouraging police to use aggressive levels of force, and the two police officers are at fault for endangering commuters, according to the New York Post.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has previously defended the police officers' actions, saying that Mickles is to blame for the escalation and that the officers showed a "great level of restraint" during the situation.

The city's law department declined to comment on the matter.