A woman who was shot by Columbus police in 2008 when she was a teenager has dismissed her $3 million federal lawsuit against the city.
The attorney for Regina Jennings, 19, and her mother, Patricia Jennings, filed paperwork yesterday to dismiss the suit without the possibility of refiling it.
Regina Jennings was 16 when a police officer shot her twice outside of a North Side carryout at E. 5th and Peters avenues on June 18, 2008.
Officers said she was holding what appeared to be an assault rifle concealed in a blanket and refused to drop it. They recovered an air rifle at the scene.
Regina Jennings initially said she was holding a puppy in the blanket, then later said she had found a BB gun and picked it up. She was hospitalized with a gunshot wound in each arm.
She was not charged with a crime, though her boyfriend later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts that involved lying to police officers about the air rifle.
In 2009, Patricia and Regina Jennings filed a lawsuit against the city seeking $3 million. Their claims included civil-rights violations, negligent hiring and retention by Columbus and the intentional infliction of serious emotional distress.
A police review of the case said the officer acted within the Police Division's policy.
"The officers acted well within the law and pursuant to the training they received when encountering a person with a gun," said City Attorney Richard C. Pfeiffer Jr. "Ms. Jennings' attorneys' dismissal of the case with prejudice confirms our view."
Eric L. Lafayette, the lawyer who filed the dismissal for the Jennings, did not return a phone call seeking comment.
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