First legal action in aftermath of Michigan State mass shooting: What we know
EAST LANSING — Four months after the mass shooting on Michigan State University’s campus, two survivors have taken steps to sue to the university.
Monday’s legal filings aren’t lawsuits. The notices of intent to sue, filed in the Michigan Court of Claims, open the door for the two shooting survivors to file lawsuits against the university.
Three students were killed and five were wounded in the Feb. 13 campus shooting. The university police department is leading the investigation, which remains ongoing. The gunman killed himself the night of the shooting.
What happened on Monday?
The notices of intent to sue are required steps for filing suit against government entities like public universities.
Claims can still be brought in federal court or Ingham County Circuit Court.
It’s unclear where the lawsuits will be filed. Mick Grewal, an attorney for the shooting survivors, declined to comment.
What are the key claims in the suits?
The filings are brief summaries of the legal positions the attorneys for the students plan to address more fully in their lawsuits.
Based on the filings, central to lawsuits will be claims that the university lacked door locks across campus prior to the shooting, specific rooms or buildings could not be remotely locked and an inadequate campus video surveillance system.
Attorneys also claim the university failed to protect students by allowing public access to campus buildings at night, did not use mass shooting deterrent technology that other major universities have and didn't conduct active shooter training and drills.
Attorneys said in the filings that MSU had received complaints about the lack of restrictions for campus buildings prior to the shooting. They did not provide additional details.
Who is bringing the legal action
Nate Statly and Troy Forbush are the students who filed in the Court of Claims on Monday. Both were juniors and attended the same lecture in Berkey Hall the night of the shooting.
Statly was shot in the head and has spent the past few months in various hospitals. He’s unable to walk, talk or use the left side of his body, according to the filing. His attorneys and family have predicted a prolonged recovery period and the need for mental health therapy for the rest of his life. He was majoring in environmental biology and zoology at the time of the shooting.
Forbush was shot in the chest, with the bullet striking a lung and coming within an inch of his heart, according to his filing. He spent 10 days in Sparrow Hospital and underwent multiple procedures.
Who could be sued
The filings in the Court of Claims do not name defendants, but they put on notice several arms of the university and officials who might be named in the subsequent lawsuits.
The president’s office, Board of Trustees, Department of Police and Public Safety and Department of Infrastructure Planning and Facilities are all included, as are a handful of officials who work in those departments.
The Department of Police and Public Safety and Department of Infrastructure Planning and Facilities are included as campus-wide video surveillance and classroom door locks are central to the legal claims.
Attorneys for Statly and Forbush will now have to decide what court — federal, Ingham County Circuit Court or the Court of Claims — is the best venue to bring their lawsuit.
What is MSU saying?
"Many lives among our community have been profoundly impacted by the violence our campus experienced. We are heartbroken and sorry for the tragic loss of life and each person harmed by senseless gun violence," MSU spokesman Dan Olsen wrote in an emailed statement to the State Journal.
"MSU has been engaged in conversations with the families of those we lost and those injured to identify ways to provide ongoing support, and we are committed to keeping those lines of communication open."
What security changes is the university making?
The university is working on what's likely the largest single effort to upgrade surveillance and building security on the East Lansing campus in its 168-year history.
Part of that effort is the addition of locks to at least 1,600 classroom doors that can be secured by anyone inside a room and require a key to open from the outside.
The university is also setting up a Strategic Operations Center to be housed at the police department that will tie together all campus security cameras into one monitoring location. Police will staff the center around the clock.
The new surveillance system will have software that can alert staffers to an open door that should be closed and will be capable of using artificial intelligence like facial recognition and license plate reading.
Contact reporter Matt Mencarini at 517-377-1026 or mjmencarini@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattMencarini.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: First legal action related to Michigan State mass shooting: What we know
