Accidental Shooting Prompts Family Suit

An Auburn man who was cleared of criminal negligence after he accidentally shot his girlfriend at an Alaska lodge has been sued by the woman’s three children and family members.

The King County Superior Court lawsuit seeks damages for economic losses and emotional distress, as well as $600,000 in punitive damages.

Sandra Perry, 38, of SeaTac, was found dead in her room in July 1996 at the Glacier Bear Lodge in Yakutat, Alaska, about 200 miles northwest of Juneau.

Perry’s boyfriend, Robert Kowalski, told police he had borrowed a shotgun from the lodge owner because the couple were worried about bears. The gun accidentally discharged when he bumped it on a bedpost, and Perry was shot in the head.