PORTLAND, Oregon – The family of a Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center security officer who was fatally shot in 2023 has filed a $35 million wrongful death lawsuit against the facility and its parent company Legacy Health.
Bobby Smallwood, 44, was shot July 22, 2023 by 33-year-old PoniaX Kanes Calles.
According to court documents, Calles had been at Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center for about three days because his pregnant partner was there to deliver their baby. Before the shooting, he reportedly made several threatening remarks to staff, which prompted employees to call in Smallwood and two other security officers for help.
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Nurses searched Calles’ partner’s room and found two guns, reports OPB. After the guns were found, the partner told a security officer that Calles probably had another firearm on him. However, Smallwood wasn’t informed about the third gun. Other employees were notified, and a fellow security officer tried to tell Smallwood about the gun with hand gestures.
The lead security officer asked the manager to put Legacy Good Samaritan on “Code Silver” – which is a warning for internal staff members that there is a shooter in the facility – but the officer didn’t know how to do so.
Smallwood tried to pat down Calles, who said he would just leave. As Smallwood was escorting Calles out, staff prevented them from leaving. Calles then turned around and shot Smallwood in the neck.
Calles fled the scene and was found 15 miles away. A patrol unit attempted to make a traffic stop on his vehicle, and he died in an officer-involved shooting.
Smallwood was taken to a Level 1 Trauma Center where he later died.
Lawsuit Claims Legacy Good Samaritan Didn’t Follow Its Workplace Violence Policies
The lawsuit, which was filed on Tuesday, claims Calles should have been immediately removed from Legacy Good Samaritan after his aggressive behavior and staff members’ discovery of the guns he had hidden in his partner’s room. The lawsuit alleges Legacy failed to fully implement its own security policies, such as its “zero tolerance for willful acts of workplace violence” and the immediate removal of violators from the hospital, reports KOIN.
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The complaint also faults Legacy for not responding to earlier incidents involving Calles, where he repeatedly threatened hospital staff, reports KGW.
The tragedy prompted Legacy Health to make security improvements at all of its locations. Soon after the shooting, the company said it would install metal detectors at all of its hospitals and conduct bag searches on all patients and visitors. Head security officers were also equipped with Tasers, with other security guards to receive those weapons after training and certification.
