Jewish Day Care-Center Sued Over Shooting
May 1 -- The parents of a boy who was wounded in 1999when an admitted white supremacist linked to the Aryan Nationsopened fire at a Jewish day-care center have filed a lawsuitagainst the center's owners.
Eleanor and Charles Kadish claim the center had a responsibilityto protect their children, but failed to provide enough security toprevent hate crime attacks. In a lawsuit, they claimed the centerwas ultimately targeted for its lack of security.
On Aug. 10, 1999, Buford O. Furrow fired more than 70 bulletsinto the center, which was filled with children attending dayprograms.
Benjamin Kadish was one of three boys injured along with ateenage girl and an older woman.
Furrow then headed into a San Fernando Valley neighborhood andkilled Filipino-American letter carrier Joseph Ileto, who was shotnine times.
Sentenced to Two Life Sentences
In a plea bargain, Furrow pleaded guilty in January to 16federal charges. The slaying of Ileto was a federal offense becausehe was a government employee. Furrow, of Olympia, Wash., wassentenced in March to two life sentences without the possibility ofparole.
He had a history of involvement with anti-Semitic groups in thePacific Northwest including the Aryan Nations.
The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court this weekagainst the North Valley Jewish Community Center, where theshooting occurred. It also named the Jewish Community Centers ofGreater Los Angeles and the West Valley Jewish Community, where theKadishes registered their sons.
'Severe' and 'Permanent' Distress
The Kadishes claim their son, Benjamin, then 5, continues to"suffer severe and permanent emotional and mental distress" frombeing shot in the stomach and leg.
The lawsuit also contends his 9-year-old brother, Joshua,witnessed the shooting and suffers from "serious and traumaticemotional distress."
A spokeswoman for the Jewish Community Centers of Greater LosAngeles said the center should not be held responsible.
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