Virginia Tech Victims and Families Notify Town of Possible Lawsuit

BLACKSBURG, Va. – An attorney notified the town of Blacksburg that litigation may be filed alleging negligence by the town for 20 students killed or wounded in the April 16 Virginia Tech shootings.

It has been six months since Tech student Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed 32 students and faculty, and injured more than 20 people before turning the gun on himself. According to the state code, a notice of possible lawsuits must be filed within six months of an event.

Larry Spencer, Blacksburg’s Town Attorney, said he received the 20 three-page notices of claims from the Washington D.C.-based personal injury lawyer, Peter Grenier on Oct. 12. Twelve students who were murdered and eight students who were wounded were named.

In the notices, Grenier contends that the deaths and injuries were caused “by the wrongful acts an/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.”

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

Spencer stated that he expected the notices. He emphasized that the notices don’t necessarily mean there will be a lawsuit.

The state of Virginia could be called as a defendant in any lawsuit, Spencer says, because Virginia Tech is a public university.

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