April 16 Victims Take First Step Toward Lawsuits: A State Deadline for Filing Notice of Possible Sui

Oct 13, 08:42 AM

Current Headlines: By Shawna Morrison, The Roanoke Times, Va.

Oct. 13--A lawyer representing 20 students killed or wounded in the April 16 shootings at Virginia Tech -- and their families -- has notified the town of Blacksburg that litigation may be filed claiming negligence by the town and its employees.

Under state code, notice of possible lawsuits must be filed within a town, city or county within six months of an event. Tuesday marks six months since Tech student Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed 32 students and faculty members and wounded more than 20 before killing himself.

Blacksburg Town Attorney Larry Spencer said he received the notices of claims from Peter Grenier, a personal injury lawyer in Washington, D.C., on Friday.

The notices, Spencer stressed, don't necessarily mean that a suit or suits are imminent. None had been filed as of Friday.

Spencer said the notices were expected.

Because Virginia Tech is a public university, any lawsuit could name the state as a defendant, too.

Victims and their families have up to a year to notify the state of any plans to sue. Tucker Martin, a spokesman for the attorney general's office, said at least one notice has already been received. Tech student Kevin Sterne, who was wounded in the shootings, filed a notice Friday, he said. Sterne also filed a notice with the town.

Suzanne Grimes, Sterne's mother, declined comment Friday afternoon.

Grenier sent Spencer 20 three-page notices of claim Friday, one naming each of 12 people who were killed and eight who were wounded in the shootings. All of them were students at the time.

Those killed who are named in the town notices include: Minal Hiralal Panchal, Julia Kathleen Pryde, Juan Ramon Ortiz-Ortiz, Nicole Regina White, Reema Joseph Samaha, Maxine Shelly Turner, Brian Roy Bluhm, Caitlin Millar Hammaren, Jeremy Michael Herbstritt, Matthew Gregory Gwaltney, Waleed Shaalan and Michael Steven Pohle Jr.

Those wounded who are named include: Sterne, Hilary Strollo, Elilta Habtu, Justin Klein, Sean McQuade, Katelyn Carney, Garrett Evans and Emily Haas.

Their deaths and injuries, Grenier alleges in the notices, were caused "by the wrongful acts and/or omissions of persons acting under color of law and within the scope of their employment with the town of Blacksburg and/or its agencies."

In the notices, Grenier says those wrongful acts and omissions include:

n The town's failure to conduct a thorough investigation into the two fatal shootings at West Ambler Johnston Hall, which occurred more than two hours before Cho went on a shooting rampage in Norris Hall;

n The town's erroneous conclusion that "they had a solid suspect" in the first two shootings and that no warning need be immediately issued;

n The town's failure to take steps necessary to protect students if it turned out, as it did, that the initial suspect wasn't the shooter;

n The town's failure to issue a "timely, effective, and accurate warning" that two people had been killed and their killer unidentified.

In the notices, Grenier said the town, its police department and individual police officers and other governmental employees are alleged to be liable. None is named.

Grenier said possible claims could include wrongful death claims arising from negligence, gross negligence, and/or reckless misconduct and violation of civil rights claims, including deprivation of the right to life, liberty and personal security.

Those injured would seek damages for bodily injuries; past and future pain and suffering, disfigurement, deformity, humiliation and embarrassment, inconvenience and medical expenses; and lost earnings and loss of earnings capacity.

By state code, the notice must include the time and place at which the injury is alleged to have occurred.

Grenier's notices outline the events of April 16 from 7:15 a.m., when the first two shootings took place in West Ambler Johnston, to 9:40 a.m., when Cho began shooting people in Norris.

Holly Adams-Sherman, mother of victim Leslie Sherman, was not among the family members who sent notices of claim Friday, but said there was "a concerted effort to get everybody on board."

Adams-Sherman, who has been one of the most outspoken family members since the shootings, said she has been in contact with Grenier and was "still weighing the options."

"Some people have already made their decision," she said. "I have not made mine yet. ... I'm torn between one action and another, wondering which one I'll be able to be heard the most by."

Adams-Sherman said the benefit of filing suit would be that families might "be able to ask the hard questions and add more investigative work to the whole thing."

Grenier did not return a call seeking comment Friday afternoon. Several members of the families involved in the notices did not return phone messages Friday.

Staff writer Angela Manese-Lee contributed to this report.

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