DC Shooting Injury Lawyer

Our DC shooting injury lawyers get calls from shooting victims weekly. It is important to note that, while there is often no denying the liability in a shooting injury, finding someone who can afford to pay your damages can be tricky. Typically, we must look beyond the shooter for sources of liability. For example, if you are shot at a concert venue, can we hold the venue liable? What if you are at a Capitals game in Capital One Arena in Chinatown? If you are shot inside the arena, that means the metal detectors at the entrance missed the gun entering the arena. That is negligence. If the arena was negligent in checking for weapons, and that negligence proximately caused your injuries, we can make a claim against the arena for your damages.

Meanwhile, while we can name the shooter as a defendant, there is little likelihood that he can afford a judgment against him. Establishing liability against a defendant other than the shooter is often critical to your recovery. While we can sue the shooter and be successful in winning a judgment, there is likely no chance you will ever receive compensation for your injury. It takes a savvy DC shooting injury lawyer to find ways to find the correct defendant, establish liability by investigating all the evidence, and win your case.

Against Police

If the police shoot you and you did not pose a threat to them, you should consult with a DC shooting injury lawyer. Generally, suing the District of Columbia is something to avoid. Since they wrote the laws, they made it difficult to sue them. However, if the damages are sufficient, it may be worth pursuing. These cases must be evaluated by a skilled attorney on a case-by-case basis. A claim against the police is a claim against the District of Columbia. This involves notice requirements. You are required to put the District on notice for such accidents. This is one reason why it is imperative to speak with an attorney immediately. Some accident victims are unable to talk to an attorney due to injuries such as a coma. If so, the notice requirements will be tolled until you gain consciousness.

However, if you are merely unsure about retaining legal help, any hesitancy may undermine your chance of recovery. How do you know if you have a case against the District for police misconduct? There are two options. The first is negligence, and the second is intentional conduct. Against the police, negligence may be a more difficult case to prove. The police are afforded some leeway in taking down a suspect who is a danger to the public. The defense may also argue you were contributorily negligent if you did not flee the scene within a reasonable period.

Against a Concert Venue or Stadium

We touched on how a concert venue or stadium may be liable for your shooting injuries above, but there are other ways to establish liability, too. What if there was no metal detector? Only some venues are required to have metal detectors. We can also allege negligence for inadequate security. Suppose a crowd gets overly chaotic, and the venue’s security cannot calm the crowd. In that case, we can successfully argue there was inadequate security based on the number of patrons. Why is that negligent? The venue or stadium owes you a duty to provide a reasonably safe environment. They are liable if they fail to do so and chaos breaks out. On the other hand, for an inadequate security argument, suppose the shooting occurs suddenly. While we may be able to establish liability through other negligence theories, an insufficient security argument requires some degree of chaos before the shooting.

A third means of establishing liability against a concert venue or stadium by a DC shooting injury lawyer is if the venue arms a security guard and shoots you. Note that if the venue does not arm the security guard, the venue may not be liable. Of course, the security guard may still be liable in his personal capacity. Still, it would be more beneficial for your case if we could establish liability against the venue with more insurance coverage. If the guard is meant to be unarmed but is carrying a gun, that probably means the venue’s insurance provider does not cover guards with weapons. Additionally, the vicarious liability rules require that the force level be within the scope of his employment. Accordingly, we may only establish vicarious liability against the stadium or venue if the guard is meant to be armed.

Against a School

A DC shooting injury lawyer can assist you in making a claim against a school for injuries sustained in a shooting. These cases are not always easy. Schools have a duty to protect students from foreseeable harm. Thus, the key to establishing liability against a school for a school shooting is if it was reasonably foreseeable that someone would come to campus with a gun and fire at someone. If it is reasonably foreseeable that such action would occur, the school has a duty to take reasonable steps. At the absolute least, this would require alerting the police.

If the police do not put armed officers on campus, the school may need to hire security. Note that the school does not need to prevent any possibility of a shooting if they are on notice that a shooting may occur. Instead, they must take reasonable steps to prevent their students. What is deemed “reasonable steps” is a question for a jury.

Challenges in Shooting Injury Cases

The primary challenge in a shooting injury case is establishing liability against an entity other than the shooter. There is a minimal likelihood that the shooter has insurance coverage unless he is an armed security guard or police officer. If that is the case, we may be able to recover punitive damages in addition to the compensatory damages available in a typical negligence case. However, in proving liability by an entity, note that they cannot always control what happens on their premises, nor are they required to. They have a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent shootings when there is a foreseeable risk of harm.

The second challenge in a DC shooting case is insurance coverage. Not all insurance policies cover shooting injuries. If the insurer denies coverage based on their insurance contract, we will be left to recover from the entity itself. Depending on the severity of your injuries, they may not have sufficient assets to cover a judgment or settlement. Fortunately, there are steps we can take. For example, if they refuse to pay a judgment, we ask the sheriff to take their liquor license or shut them down until they pay. We have taken this step before, as venues can be unwilling to pay what you are rightly owed for your injuries.

Speak to an Attorney

Our DC shooting injury attorneys at Gelb & Gelb have been practicing personal injury law since 1954. Since then, we have successfully resolved thousands of cases and recovered over $150,000,000 for our clients. We are here to assist if you have questions regarding the viability of your injury claim. Call today for a free consultation at (202) 331-7227.