BUZZ
Three students who were injured during the shooting at Brown University in December have each sued the school, alleging negligent security lapses helped lead to their injuries.
The lawsuits, filed April 23, allege campus leaders “ignored prior warnings about the shooter and did not provide adequate security that could have prevented the tragedy,” the Associated Press reported.
The lawsuits stem from the shooting attack in December of a classroom at the Ivy League institution that left two students dead and nine wounded.
The three students who filed the lawsuits were “seriously injured” and are not named in the complaints except as J. Does, the Providence Journal reported.
“The students allege that Brown’s security failed to heed warnings from custodian Derek Lisi about [gunman Claudio Manuel] Neves Valente ‘casing’ the building in the days and weeks leading up to the shooting that left students Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov dead and nine others injured,” the newspaper reported.
A Brown spokesman told the Journal:
“Brown is reviewing the complaints carefully and promptly. Out of respect for the privacy interests of the plaintiffs, we have no details to share on the merits of the litigation at this time. We will respond as appropriate through the legal process. We remain committed to the safety and security of our community and to supporting the path to recovery and repair for our students, faculty, staff and members of the broader community.”
As The College Fix reported in December, a Brown University custodian said he saw the shooter nearly a dozen times a few weeks before the attack — and shared his suspicions with an on-campus security guard.
Brown University’s head of public safety Chief Rodney Chatman was also put on administrative leave after the attack.
Earlier this month, he permanently separated from the school through a settlement approved in the Rhode Island Workers’ Compensation Court, the Brown Daily Herald reported.
“The news of Chatman’s permanent departure comes after his tenure was marked by votes of no confidence from two separate police unions. A Herald investigation also revealed allegations of a toxic work environment in the Department of Public Safety under Chatman’s leadership. A subsequent investigation unearthed further allegations that department leaders mishandled responses to bomb and shooting threats,” the student newspaper added.
MORE: Suspect in Brown University shooting and MIT professor killing found dead, police say
