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On January 31, three people were injured in a shooting that took place outside Chaparral High School in Las Vegas. A small fire led to the evacuation of the school. Within 45 minutes, gunshots were reported just off-campus. The three victims took themselves to Sunrise Hospital. Two of them were students at Chaparral. In cases like this, who is responsible if a child is injured while they are supposed to be at school?
School shootings have become common in the United States. In Las Vegas, we are no strangers to mass shootings. But what happens if your child is injured or killed while they are supposed to be at school but are off-campus?
A School’s Responsibility For Providing a Safe Environment
Schools are tasked with providing safe environments for students during the time they are at school. Parents entrust kids to teachers and administrators each day, and schools take on liability known as in loco parentis, or “in place of the parent.” When students suffer an injury on campus, there are significant issues concerning liability and fault, and the school can face negligence challenges. But what happens when kids are harmed off-campus? Who is liable for this?
While it appears that the Chaparral shooting took place off-campus while the school had been evacuated for a small fire, it is uncertain what transpired that precipitated the shooting and what responsibility the school’s employees had under this scenario.
Negligence and Duty of Care
Courts place great responsibility for the legal duty of care toward students during regular school hours. An employee, educator, or administrator must do everything they reasonably can to protect their students from harm. This includes providing a safe environment on or off-campus. School employees are responsible for providing supervision on school grounds as well as off in certain instances for extracurricular activities.
But negligence and liability can differ depending on the type of school, where the child was hurt, whether the incident took place during school hours, and what degree of involvement the student had in their own injuries. While a school can be held liable for the negligence of any of its employees in keeping students safe, public schools also have the right of sovereign immunity, and damages are capped at $100,000.
Depending on the circumstances of the case, liability may also fall on the parents when a shooting is perpetrated by a student. Such is the case with the recent school shooting at Oxford High School in Detroit, where Eric Crumbley’s parents were also criminally charged and will no doubt be facing civil wrongful death lawsuits.
In the case of Chaparral High School, if the school does bear some accountability, they could be held liable for damages of the injured students, including medical expenses and other expenses as they relate to their injuries.
Understanding Liability in School and Mass Shootings
School and other mass shootings have unfortunately become more commonplace. For a shooting victim or loved one, it is important to understand who may be held liable when seeking important compensation for injuries and other damages. If a shooting resulted in a fatality, family members may have the right to file a wrongful death claim against the negligent party.
If you have been harmed in a shooting on public or private property, the experienced team at LV Personal Injury Lawyers can help. Contact us for a free consultation to discuss your case.
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