Premises Liability Arises as a Concern In Concert Shooting
A wrongful death lawsuit has just been filed on behalf of the family of a 19-year-old man who died during a shooting that broke out after a concert by rapper Big Tone; the victim’s mother brought the suit against the business hosting the event where the tragedy occurred.
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, the wrongful death lawsuit against SJS Limited Partnership, owners of the Arbat Reception Hall, alleges that the defendant company was "negligent by not providing supervision and adequate security to insure the safety of the patrons." The victim died after taking a bullet to the chest.
When an accident or injury occurs to a visitor on another person's property, the owner of the property may be legally responsible if it can be proved that their negligence led to the injury. When injuries do arise in these situations, Illinois premises liability lawsuits occur.
Illinois premises liability law requires a number of things, in order to apply to a set of circumstances: the defendant must be the owner or possessor of the land, or “premises.” Additionally, the person on the land of another must be injured by negligence or a different wrongful act. A number of recent cases have interpreted this to include injuries that occur because of a third person’s wrongful act, which would hold the property owner responsible for having invited the harm-causer on to the land.
Although this construal arguably holds landowners liable for harm they technically didn’t cause, the liability stems from not having been more careful with regard to being discerning about who may enter onto the land. Holding property owners liable in these cases protects the innocent invitees, and sends a message to landowners to be more circumspect about screening their patrons.
The Salt Lake Tribune’s report states that this particular lawsuit alleges that, just as the concert was concluding, a dispute broke out among the guests and gunshots were fired randomly into the crowd. The victim was the last injured person to be taken to the hospital, where he later died from the gunshot wounds.
The claim is that the "defendant’s duties were foreseeable in that the event and the rapper’s audience required that due care and security be maintained to avoid injury and loss of life that occurred." Certainly the shooter was the person immediately responsible for the victim’s death, but the reception hall had a responsibility to ensure the safety of their patrons, which, in this case, meant excluding other dangerous persons.
If you've suffered an injury of this type which you believe may be a result the negligence of another person, you may be able to file a lawsuit to recover the costs involved to pay for your medical bills, any lost earnings or other pain, disfigurement, emotional distress or permanent physical disability you have suffered. A personal injury attorney will be able to advise you of your rights under the law.
Our Chicago wrongful death attorneys have handled a number of these types of cases, including having won a $6.0 million settlement for the families of 6 children who died in a tragic apartment fire on Chicago's north side, where landlords of the building failed to have proper and working smoke detectors in violation of the Chicago Municipal Code, and the children were not able to escape the building in time.
