Mass shooting survivors filing $100M lawsuits against Oxford Schools

[demmiblue]

Source: The Detroit News

Detroit — Survivors of the mass shooting at Oxford High School are filing two $100 million lawsuits against the school district and employees, lawyer Geoffrey Fieger said Thursday.

The announcement comes more than one week after prosecutors say Ethan Crumbley, the 15-year-old alleged shooter, killed four students while wounding six other students and a teacher.

Fieger filed one federal lawsuit on behalf of Oxford students and siblings Riley Franz, 17, a senior, and Bella Franz, 14, a freshman. Riley was shot in the neck while next to Bella during the attack.

The lawsuit accuses school officials of failing to stop an attack that inflicted physical and psychological injuries on students. Defendants listed in the federal lawsuit filed early Thursday include Superintendent Timothy Throne, High School Principal Steven Wolf, Dean Ryan Moore and unidentified counselors, teachers and staff members.

Read more: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/oakland-county/2021/12/09/oxford-school-shooting-survivors-filing-lawsuits/6445469001/

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[Turbineguy]

1. The school can't win.

If they had done something to prevent it, there would have been bleating over tyranny and the 2nd Amendment.

[58Sunliner]

7. They had all the info except a smoking gun. They didn't ask where the gun was, or search the kid.

[maxsolomon]

38. they did not know he had access to a handgun

or that he had been given one that previous friday. they'd been told the family "enjoyed shooting sports".

[58Sunliner]

41. He told them they went shooting-hence access to a gun.

Doesn't take Columbo here. He draws a picture of a gun, dead bloody body, with words-"thoughts won't stop. please help me", and has been noted to search for ammo and other behavioral issues. Ain't rocket science to ask if there is a gun in the house, search his backpack. Also evident that they should have asked as he fits the description of someone at risk for self-harm or harm to others.

[maxsolomon]

45. Hindsight is 20/20

It may not take Columbo but it took more than they had. Humans are fallible.

Maybe the Crumbleys are all sociopaths and great liars and fooled the guidance counselor. We don't know their protocols or rules. I'm sure the suit will examine the counselor's choices thoroughly. The teacher seems to have made the right choice. It was never elevated to the Principal level.

[artemisia1]

47. Humans are fallible, yes, but they are also accountable for their actions and inactions. This was

Last edited Sun Dec 12, 2021, 10:39 PM - Edit history (1)

too clearly, imho, a case that needed to be dealt with. This isn't 1991 -- it is 2021 and school administrators and health counselors have had the information to know when to intervene for some time and what alarm bells are ringing. This doesn't diminish either the kid's or the parent's culpability, but there MUST be accountability for missing OBVIOUS warning signs. Our children's lives depend upon it!

[former9thward]

19. That is not true,

Every school all over the country bans guns and no one complains about that violating the 2nd amendment.

[NH Ethylene]

2. High schools get a lot of threatening comments, drawings, graffiti, reports, etc

On a pretty regular basis. So it's understandable that serious ones can be missed. This one came with a lot of clues, however, and a couple of actions on the part of school staff could have prevented the tragedy, so the suit will probably be successful.

[Jetheels]

3. Can the survivors also sue the Crumbley parents?

[Jose Garcia]

8. Sure, but it might not be worth their while if the parents don't have much money

[BigmanPigman]

12. I'm sure some crazy celebrity donate

or some group will set up a Go Fund Me.

[Jose Garcia]

15. I suspect they are going to have some big legal bills to pay

[Calista241]

33. Go Fund Me's and other charity cases like that can easily be shielded from lawsuits.

I'm not saying they're always set up by smart people that know these things, but it can be easily and cheaply done.

[Coventina]

20. I'd do it just so I could seize their guns and make them too poor to buy any more.

Not that that is much, but it's something.

[ArizonaLib]

29. Yep - gotta do something

Maybe it will make someone out there aware that they should keep their mass murder capable toys locked up away from their kids, at least during school hours.

I have 2 daughters in high school. Thanks for being there for them!

[rownesheck]

4. They should be able to sue

the gun manufacturers and the government for aiding and abetting this bullshit. But, unfortunately, we live in a fucked up society filled with immature dipshits who use their fetish toward gun ownership to make themselves feel good about themselves, because their lives are so empty and worthless.

[calimary]

6. Indeed! Sure would be nice to see a few consequences imposed.

For a change.

These mass-casualty body blows don’t stop coming.

Shit, the way we keep going and what we’ve supposedly been doing certainly hasn’t worked.

[oneshooter]

16. Can we also sue the car makers for deaths caused by their products

being owned by
others and not operated by the company? If you say no then your hypocrisy is showing'

[cate94]

17. Cars are not made to kill

Guns are. Generally, deaths caused by cars are accidental. Deaths caused by guns are purposeful. Huge difference.

[former9thward]

18. Car makers make cars knowing that some will be used illegally and kill people.

Under that logic they should be sued anytime a drunk driver kills someone.

[58Sunliner]

21. Do automakers show cars driving towards a target?

Do they have lobbyists constantly pushing for leniency of felons to use them as weapons? Is the sole purpose of a car to kill or injure?? False equivalency.

[Tommymac]

22. Strawman argument. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.

Guns are designed to kill people.

Cars are designed to transport people.

Bullshit argument right out of the NRA playbook.

[58Sunliner]

24. Seeing a bit of that today.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

27. Good point.

If guns are designed to kill, we definitely shouldn't equip cops with them. For that matter we shouldn't be paying cops with tax money when cops are killing people.

Knives with a blade length over 5" that aren't specifically designed as kitchen knives are also designed to kill.

Arrows are probably designed to kill as well. I'm not sure about the bow but without the arrow it's likely hard to kill with only a bow.

That brings up another issue. It's fairly difficult to kill someone with a gun and no bullets. Should we give cops guns with no bullets?

Is killing always evil, at least is it always the greater evil? IMO murders and negligent killings are evil.

[58Sunliner]

42. Another straw man argument.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

44. Unfounded assertions such as your reply are far superior. n/t

[Calista241]

34. An swimming pools. We need to ban them also.

10 people a day die in those bullshit death traps. And we need to sue everyone that's built, installed, sold, maintained, or lifeguarded any swimming pools.

[maxsolomon]

39. Citation please.

Lots of Gunner red herrings on display in this thread.

Unless that's ?

[EX500rider]

46. here:

From 2005-2014, there were an average of 3,536 fatal unintentional drownings (non-boating related) annually in the United States-about ten deaths per day.
Don't think they were all in pools though.

[Torchlight]

40. Swimming pools require homeowners insurance.

Those owning pools must carry adequate homeowners insurance that explicitly covers the pool in order to protect themselves and anyone who may become injured in or around the pool.

[58Sunliner]

43. Another straw man. Geez. RWSM.

[Paladin]

25. That's feeble, even by Pro-Gun Militant standards.

In all the decades it's been used, the cars vs. guns argument has never worked for your side.

[rownesheck]

26. My car's

sole purpose is not to kill. A gun's only purpose is to kill.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

28. There are guns out there that are designed specifically for competition for target shooting. n/t

[Calista241]

35. Something like 99.9% of guns out there are not fulfilling their designed purpose.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

37. Years ago someone told me that we should treat gun violence the same way...

...we deal with medical epidemics. I suggested that dealing with an epidemic involves statistics. Apparently it takes 11,000 guns to kill since there are like 300,000,000 guns in the US and only ~27,000 gun deaths.

[cstanleytech]

30. Should? I agree however the gun manufacturers are producing something that is entirely legal

which is protected under the 2nd amendment so any lawsuits against them are unlikely to survive a SCOTUS appeal.

[Farmer-Rick]

5. Yeah, why didn't they search him????

Kids go through metal detectors everyday. Kids lockers are routinely search for drugs. Why didn't they search that kids backpack before the useless meeting with the parents and the counselor? They would have found the weapon at least.

Yeah, I think they failed in their duty to search his backpack for a weapon. Imagine this happening in an inner city school. Do you think they would have let him waltz back into a classroom with a loaded weapon?

I just can't believe they were so negligent as to Not search the kid for weapons when they suspected him of wanting to shoot up the school.

[Stuart G]

9. Some schools search, some don't..That school obviously didn't

...Now they will search ...and perhaps more schools will search all students as they enter..

Very expensive, but prevents this kind of killing. Yes, there are places that search back packs.
Obviously not this place.

[plimsoll]

11. Well they had the right,

I imagine the “parents” would have raised holy hell. They probably worried that if they were wrong they would get sued. How many people in that community went down armed to protest the governor’s lockdowns and mask mandates?

This should have been prevented, but I’m starting to look at school shootings as a first amendment issue. They need to sacrifice these kids to their god. Additionally, it’s not an inner city school, I’m sure the townsfolk agree with searching “those people.”

[BigmanPigman]

13. You're right...

parents have gained a lot of clout over the last 30 years and they threaten schools all the time with lawsuits. It is a major problem since a lot of schools' hands are tied. I definitely saw this when I taught in public schools.

[DownriverDem]

10. If you have a good case,

Geoffrey Fieger is the attorney you want to handle the case.

[hot2na]

14. The School????

I've heard the argument that the school has some responsibility and I don't buy it. Seems to me that the school was the party that was ringing all the alarm bells. If schools are to be held accountable for mass shootings then they have the right to turn the into fortresses and students are subject to search and seizure on demand for any reason. The slightest suspicion, right or wrong, can land a student on a blacklist.

But look on the bright side. We still have the 2nd amendment rights to arm our teenagers with guns assault weapons.

[58Sunliner]

23. According to law experts-

"It was well within the school’s rights to require Mr. Crumbley, who has since pleaded not guilty to murder and terrorism charges, to leave campus, Professor Ross said.
If the parents refused to take Mr. Crumbley home, it was the legal and ethical responsibility of the school, Professor Ross said, to “remove the student from the classroom and put them in a safe place — safe for other people and safe for themselves.”
Your statement that "students are subject to search and seizure on demand for any reason. The slightest suspicion, right or wrong, can land a student on a blacklist," is not legal. Searching a backpack for someone who has demonstrated through writing, an intent to harm either his self or others, is legal and should have been done.

[cstanleytech]

31. The problem is those are law experts and not the judges on the Supreme Court who

will make the final decision assuming it even goes to trial.

[ExTex]

32. Money bring backs the dead.

Fieger in Michigan is a notorious publicity hound and pest. His ads are all over Detroit tv. He abuses the lawyers in his own firm. Money grubber.

On the other hand he is feared and the State bar refuses to reign him in. Look for a large settlement.

[Irish_Dem]

36. Taxpayers end up paying for the gun nuts and NRA violence.

In blood and treasure.