8 THE QUEENS COURIER • OCTOBER 10, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Mets fan who was nearly blinded by T-shirt gun sues team
and calls for the cannons to be banned from future games
BY BILL PARRY
the Mets for damages and is asking the
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
team to ban the use of T-shirt guns at Citi
@QNS
Field in the future in a lawsuit fi led in
Queens Supreme Court Sept. 27.
A long-time fan of the New York Mets
“Th is is a very unfortunate situation
was watching his favorite squad play ball
that could’ve and should’ve been avoided
with his three sons back in June when
if the Mets took the appropriate measures,”
he was blasted in the face by a projectile
Swanson’s Attorney Dustin Levine
launched from a pneumatic cannon, rendering
said. “Th e T-shirt cannon is meant to
shoot T-shirts into the upper decks of the
stadium.”
Swanson and his sons were sitting in
the Pepsi Porch for a June 5 game against
Courtesy of Dustin Levine
him unconscious with a semi-detached
retina in his right eye.
Now, Alex Swanson, a 54-year-old resident
of Smithtown, Long Island, is suing
The damage to Alex Swanson’s right eye may not heal completely after he was blasted in the face
by a T-shirt cannon at Citi Field.
Alex Swanson was enjoying a Mets game with his three sons before he was injured by a T-shirt fi red
by an air cannon.
the San Francisco Giants when the T-shirt
shooter came out during the seventh
inning to fi re up the crown. Swanson went
to the railing, hoping to get a new T-shirt
when the operator began to struggle with
his air cannon.
Suddenly, it fi red a tightly wrapped
T-shirt covered in tape and rubber bands
directly into Swanson’s face from just 20
feet away, knocking him off his feet. He
struck his head in the fall and lost consciousness.
“Th e cannon was operated and maintained
in a grossly negligent fashion and
caused Mr. Swanson to be hit by the projectile
that is estimated to be traveling at
half the speed of a bullet fi red by a 9mm
pistol.” Levine said. “My client was enjoying
what he thought was a perfect day
with his three sons and ended up suff ering
a severe injury that will likely aff ect
the rest of his life.”
Alex Swanson was enjoying a Mets
game with his three sons before he was
injured by a T-shirt fi red by an air cannon.
(Courtesy of Dustin Levine)
QNS reached out to the New York Mets
and is awaiting a response.
Levine is basing the case on a 2016
risk assessment of air cannons at sporting
events conducted by the U.S. Military
Courtesy of Dustin Levine
Academy at West Point that showed
T-shirts fi red from such launchers can
reach “kinetic energies 15 times larger
than that of a paintball gun, nine times
larger than that of a pellet gun and nearly
half that of a 9mm handgun.”
Th e study concluded “that it is likely
that being shot in the eye by an air cannon
located directly next to the victim
will result in a ruptured globe or penetrated
orbit.”
Levine said his client will require laser
surgery to reattach his retina that is “hanging
by thread,” according to his ophthalmologist,
and there are no guarantees he
will fully recover. Swanson also suff ered
from memory loss from a concussion.
“He has no ill will towards the Mets or
the players, but he wants to make sure that
the cannon is never to be used again to
protect future fans, especially small children
that may not have been as lucky as
him to survive the impact,” Levine said.
“He would also like to be compensated for
the pain and suff ering and the permanent
vision impairment to his right eye. Th e
Mets must be held accountable and I hope
that we will reach an amicable outcome.”
Levine did not disclose the amount in
damages he is seeking for his client in the
lawsuit.
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