School shootings are horrifying events that should not be allowed to happen. Unfortunately, they have become such a prominent issue in American schools that school-age children have had to undergo school shooter drills to learn how to react during actual attacks. The unfortunate reality is that school shootings have increased over the years. From 2009 to 2018, there were at least 180 school shootings which resulted in approximately 356 victims (114 fatalities and 242 injuries) according to data collected by CNN.
After school shootings, there is a time of uncertainty for the entire community. Parents and guardians, specifically, are unable to contact their children and do not know if they are safe or among the injured until many hours after the incident. When parents learn that their children are among the deceased, they are, without a doubt, devastated. They are also left wondering what could have been done differently to prevent the death of their child. In addition, they are left having to deal with sudden funeral costs.
If your child lost his or her life in a school shooting, you might be interested in learning more about whether the school could be held accountable for the death of your child – and for funeral expenses, for instance. If you would like to learn more about whether the school or the school district could be held accountable for a school shooting, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance as soon as possible. Based on the details surrounding the incident, you might have grounds to sue the school.
To learn more about whether the school could be ordered to pay funeral expenses associated with the death of your child, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance with the experts at our firm as soon as possible. You can trust the lawyers at Normandie Law Firm to provide you with the guidance that you need to sue the school and fight for your right to recover monetary compensation. If you are interested in discussing your current situation with the experts at our firm, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance with our experts at your earliest convenience.
Understanding Liability for School Incidents – Including Shootings
Schools, in general, have a duty to keep their students safe. They must do everything within their power to keep the entire school premises safe. For instance, if there are dangerous conditions in the playground, the school must address the dangerous condition quickly to prevent any incident from happening. If there are any problematic students that have harmed other students in the past, schools must respond quickly and address the situation (which typically consists of suspending or expelling the problem student). The goal is to keep students safe while they are in school or participating in school events. Therefore, if students are harmed in a school incident, the school could be held accountable.
Are schools accountable for school shootings? Although many people might argue that schools should definitely be liable for school shootings, liability for such incidents depends strictly on the details surrounding the incident.
Let’s consider two different school shootings to better understand how liability works in these incidents:
School shooting at West Martinsville Middle School (in Indiana) in March of 2011: two students were injured in the shooting. One of the victims, who was targeted by the shooter, was shot twice in the stomach; according to official documents, the victim had been threatened a number of times by the shooter. The shooter was a former student who was known to both threaten and harass other students. Although all threats made by the shooter were reported to teachers, teachers failed to report the threats to administration. Therefore, no actions ere taken to prevent the incident (i.e. school entrances were unlocked, and school monitors were not warned of the threat).
School shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012: twenty-six people (including children and adults) were killed, and many others were injured after the shooter forced his way into the school. The elementary school was behind locked doors; they had a security system that required all visitors to be identified prior to being “buzzed in” or allowed into the school. The shooter used an assault rifle to bypass security and force his way into the school. Although patents of deceased children claimed that the school officials failed did not have the necessary training for lockdowns and failed to follow security protocol during the incident, the school was determined not to be liable. Although the actions during the incident were questionable, the court determined that school staff acted to the best of their abilities given the circumstances.
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You Can File a Wrongful Death Claim
If your child lost his or her life in a school shooting incident, you might have grounds to pursue a wrongful death claim, given that you can prove that the school had some sort of liability for the incident. If you decide to pursue a claim, a successful claim outcome could result in the recover of some of the following: medical expenses (those incurred before your child’s death), lost earnings, pain and suffering, funeral and burial expenses, loss of consortium, punitive damages, and legal expenses, for example. If you are interested in learning more about your right to file a wrongful death claim for the death of your child in a school shooting incident, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance with the experts at our firm today.
>Who Will Pay Funeral Costs?
Who will be responsible for paying funeral costs for the death of your child in a school shooting? If the details surrounding the incident point to the school being liable, the school (and the school district) could be responsible for paying funeral costs. Because the legal process can be lengthy, you might have to initially pay these costs out of pocket. However, upon reaching a successful claim outcome, you and your family could be reimbursed for the fees that were paid out of pocket. If you are interested in learning more about whether the school or the school district could be responsible for paying funeral expenses after the death of your child, do not hesitate to contact the experts at our firm immediately.
Understanding the Different Expenses Associated with Fatal Incidents
The services necessary after the death are extensive and they can become quite expenses. Although it is normal to plan for death expenses for those who are older, death expenses for children are often unexpected (with a few exceptions). In general, families do not have the savings or appropriate insurance policies to be able to pay for death services without going into debt.
The different expenses are associated with the following:
- Caskets, tombstones, and burial pots
- Urns as well as cremation fees
- Memorial services
- Viewing services
- Transporting the body between locations
- Preparing the body for services
- Funeral directors and other staff members
At a minimum, families could expect to pay at least $7,000 in different fees after the death of a loved one. Paying these expenses out-of-pocket can be devastating for their finances. If the school or school district pays funeral costs, families could be relieved.
File Your Claim Quickly
Wrongful death claims are normally subject to a two-year statute of limitations. However, since you will be pursuing your claim against a school or school district (a government entity), your claim will be subject to a shorter deadline. You will initially only have six months to pursue your claim against the school or school district. After you file your claim, the government entity will have 45 days to respond. If the government entity denies your claim, you will have only six months to pursue a claim civilly. If the government entity fails to respond to your claim, you will have two years to pursue your claim. To ensure that you have a thorough understanding of the total length of time that you have to sue and fight for the right to recover compensation for the death of your child in a school shooting, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance with the experts at our firm today.
Contact Our Firm Today
At Normandie Law Firm, our lawyers are ready to provide you with the representation that you need to reach a successful claim outcome and recover the compensation that you and your family are owed. We offer free legal services, which include free consultations and free second opinions. During these free legal services, our lawyers will be available to answer all your questions and address all your concerns; our lawyers will provide you with all the information that you need to pursue your claim and fight for your right to recover funeral costs. If you would like to discuss your claim with the experts at our firm, do not hesitate to contact us today.
Our firm offers a Zero-Fee guarantee, meaning that our clients will not be required to pay any upfront legal fees for our legal services. Our firm is also strictly based on contingency, meaning that our clients will not be responsible for paying any legal expenses until after reaching a positive claim outcome. What does this mean? If your claim is not successful, you will not have to pay us anything.
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