PITTSBURGH — 11 Investigates has exclusive new details about that deadly shooting at a city of Pittsburgh pool last year.
The shooting left one woman dead and her sister wounded, and Chief Investigator Rick Earle has learned that the wounded woman has filed a civil lawsuit against the man accused of firing the shots.
The suit identified the man as a lifeguard who worked at the Jack Stack Pool in Brighton Heights.
Pittsburgh Police investigated the shooting and they told 11 Investigates earlier this year that the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office had ruled it a case of self-defense and declined to press criminal charges.
But the civil lawsuit contends that the lifeguard acted recklessly and negligently when he fired ten shots, killing Darkale Bonner and wounding her sister, Lanea.
The shooting happened in July of 2023 just outside the pool.
“The first shot hits Darkale in the head, kills her. He fires nine more shot. One of those shots hits Lanea in the neck and seriously injures her,” said Anthony Giannetti, the attorney for the Bonner family who filed the lawsuit.
Giannetti filed the civil lawsuit in Allegheny County Court.
Giannetti, who spoke with Earle via Zoom, said it all began when Bonner’s nephew got into a dispute with some kids at the pool and the two sisters responded. He said they saw the lifeguard leaving with some of the kids.
“Instead of just driving away and diffusing the situation, he stops, gets out of the car. He has a gun on him and we don’t have all the details. (but) he is the only person to fire the shots. He fired ten shots,” Giannetti said.
11 investigates broke the story earlier this year that the district attorney’s office ruled the case self-defense and declined to press charges.
Sources told 11 investigates that the lifeguard was allegedly threatened with a gun first.
Earle asked Giannetti if either woman had a gun.
“Well, I don’t know the answer to that question. There is some indication that Darkale may have had a gun, but what I can tell you and what my clients are telling me is that that gun was never brandished,” said Giannetti.
In the lawsuit, the lifeguard is accused of “recklessly discharging a firearm in a public area without regard for the safety of bystanders” and “failing to stop firing the...firearm after using deadly force on the individual whom he incorrectly perceived as a threat to his safety...”
Attorney Giannetti said he did not know why the DA did not pursue charges, but he said the burden of proof in a civil case is lower than in a criminal case.
“We believe he did not act reasonable when he fired ten shots, no other shots were fired and after killing Darkale, he fired nine more shots one of which struck Lanea. So, that’s the issue in the civil case, is, was his conduct unreasonable which is very much different from the issues in the criminal case,” said Giannetti.
The Bonner family is seeking in excess of $50,000.
The attorney said he did not file against the City of Pittsburgh because of possible immunity issues, but told Earle that he reserves the right to amend the complaint.
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