Westchester correction officers file lawsuit after 2018 shootout with coworker

Two Westchester correction officers who survived a love triangle shootout in 2018 have filed a lawsuit against the county, the Department of Corrections and its commissioner, Joseph Spano.

News 12 Staff

Feb 26, 2020, 1:28 AM

Updated 1,693 days ago

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Two Westchester correction officers who survived a love triangle shootout in 2018 have filed a lawsuit against the county, the Department of Corrections and its commissioner, Joseph Spano.
Nicole Nazario and Robert Reed claim the county’s negligence nearly cost them their lives on Dec. 7, 2018 when police say a coworker, 40-year-old Edward Quinoy of Tarrytown, shot them multiple times in Reed’s Yonkers home. Police say Quinoy died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Samuel Meirowitz, who is representing Nazario and Reed, says officials failed to properly investigate previous reports of violence by Quinoy.
"There were specific incidents where Edward Quinoy acted in a violent manner and the Department of Corrections was aware of it and still allowed him to carry a gun," Meirowitz says.
The 18-page lawsuit says the county and the Department of Corrections "covered up" reports with "official claims that the exhibited violence was reasonable, minor, justified, and/or proper." And now Meirowitz says his clients' lives are forever scarred.
"His organs were damaged. He will never be able to be the same person physically that he once was and the same thing with Nicole. She had multiple gunshot wounds, organ damage. To this day, both Robert and Nicole are suffering," Meirowitz says.
A county spokesperson says they cannot comment on pending litigation.