Lawsuit filed over road rage shooting by off-duty police officer

The family of a man who was left permanently disabled after he was shot in the head during a traffic encounter in New Jersey, allegedly by an off-duty NYPD officer, has filed a lawsuit against the city and the Department of police, arguing that the officer was an alcoholic and a “time bomb” who should not have been carrying a department-issued weapon.

Officer Hieu Tran has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and other charges stemming from the May 17 shooting of Kishan Patel, 30, as authorities say they were stopped at a stoplight in Voorhees, New Jersey.

The shooting and subsequent accident left Patel a quadriplegic who will require around-the-clock care in a skilled nursing facility for the rest of his life, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Manhattan federal court by Patel’s mother, Manjina Patel.

Prosecutors in Camden County, New Jersey, say Tran shot Patel while they were both stopped at a red light. Surveillance footage showed Patel’s car speeding into the intersection and crashing into other cars, injuring a woman in one of them.

Police responded and found Patel with a head wound.

Tran drove to his home in Yonkers, New York, and later reported to work at the NYPD’s communications office, prosecutors said.

Detectives used surveillance video, cellphone records and ballistics evidence to identify Tran as the shooter, according to prosecutors. He was arrested on June 6 and is awaiting trial on charges of attempted murder, aggravated assault and weapons possession.

During a pretrial detention hearing in June, defense attorney Ross Gigliotti said a psychiatric examination found Tran, 27, suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and an alcohol abuse problem and called the shooting “an aberration. “

Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Gallagher called Tran “a ticking time bomb waiting to explode” and said there was “no guarantee this was a one-time event.”

The judge denied Tran bail.

According to the lawsuit, Tran’s alcoholism and mental health issues were known to his police superiors and should have disqualified him from serving as an armed officer, but he still carried a department-issued 9mm handgun, which he used to shoot Patel.

The suit seeks unspecified damages and names the city, police department, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, former police commissioner Edward Caban and several unnamed police officials as defendants.

After his arrest, Tran was suspended without pay from the police force. A spokesman said the department would not comment on pending litigation.

Messages seeking comment were left with the New York law department and Gigliotti, Tran’s attorney.

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