The City of Winslow is facing a $10.5 million wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Loreal Tsingine, the Navajo woman fatally shot by Winslow police officer Austin Shipley in March.
The lawsuit states that the city was negligent in hiring, training, retaining, controlling and supervising Shipley, who shot Tsingine five times on a Winslow street after a reported shoplifting incident. The officer said that the 27-year-old woman was brandishing a pair of scissors when he fired on her.
Shipley was on probation at the time of the shooting for an incident a month earlier for excessive use of force by deploying his Taser. He also was disciplined in 2013 for making inappropriate comments to a female during an incident. He was suspended for a day without pay and assigned mandatory diversity training.
The claim names the City of Winslow, Shipley and Winslow Police Chief Stephen Garnett as defendants. Tsingine’s husband, Michael Tsingine and 8-year-old daughter, Tiffany Robbins are the claimants.
Shipley remains on standard, paid administrative leave. An investigation was conducted by Arizona Department of Public Safety. It was forwarded to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for review, but has not yet been made public.
