DALLAS — A lawsuit filed on behalf of the Allen outlet mall shooting victims and their families alleged that the mall's ownership and security service did not properly staff the mall with security.
The lawsuit, filed on Aug. 24, alleged that Simon Property Group, which owns the Allen Premium Outlets, and the outlets' security contractor, Allied Universal Security Services, knew of the "high risk" of crime at the mall but "ignored" requests from Allen police to add more officers or guards.
The lawsuit alleged that the Allen Police Department, in the three years before the May 6, 2023 shooting, had responded to "more than 3,000 calls" at the outlet mall, including, in some instances, dozens of times per day.
The lawsuit alleged that the security incidents "resulted in outcry from government officials," including Allen police officials advocating "for dozens of uniformed officers to adequately secure such a large, densely populated outdoor setting."
"Simon and Allied ignored these requests and failed to provide any comparable level of security as an alternative," the lawsuit said.
Allen police officials in a statement Wednesday said they could not confirm that the department ever advised the outlet mall to staff police officers there.
The lawsuit, which was filed in Dallas County District Court, represents the families of several victims: Kyu and Cindy Cho and their three-year-old son, James; Elio Cumana Rivas; and Aishwarya Thatikonda.
The lawsuit also named shooter Mauricio Garcia's family as a defendant, as well as Bigelow Arizona Tx, the owner of Budget Suites of America, where Garcia was staying leading up to the shooting. The lawsuit alleged that Budget Suites staff did not do enough to "thwart Garcia's months of planning" in his hotel room, saying he used the room "as his base of terroristic operations," stockpiling weapons and gear.
Allied Universal Security Services told WFAA "we do not comment on pending litigation." Simon Property Group has not yet responded to a request for comment about the lawsuit. Contact information for Bigelow or Budget Suites officials was not available.
The shooting resulted in the deaths of eight victims, as well as the shooter.
The lawsuit alleged a "risk of gun violence" at Simon mall properties, citing recent shootings at malls in Massachusetts, Washington, Oklahoma and North Carolina.
The lawsuit said mall owners and operators, as well as their security companies, "are responsible for assessing vulnerabilities" and keeping shoppers safe.
"Done right, proper security decreases the risk of mass gun violence," the lawsuit said. "But Simon and Allied unevenly allocated security resources across demographic areas, ignoring location-specific threats and dangers posed at certain malls such as the Allen Premium Outlets."
The lawsuit alleged that Simon and Allied "did not equip" the mall with "adequate surveillance, communication, and active shooter technology," despite operating a response center in Indiana that monitors all Simon properties.
The crux of the lawsuit centered on Simon's alleged under-staffing of security at the Allen property.
Outside of major shopping days like Black Friday, Simon and Allied staffed the mall with a "lone security detail," identified on the day of the shooting as victim Christian LaCour, the lawsuit said.
As a result of the staffing, the lawsuit said, Garcia chose the Allen outlet mall "as an optimal target for killing as many people as possible in rapid succession."
"As he scouted, he likely saw that this mall was an unsecured and target rich environment where he could shoot people inside stores and in walkways between stores; as well as people in the parking lot and in their cars, without the impediments of a robust security presence or other tactical defense systems," the lawsuit said.
Ultimately Garcia was stopped and killed by an Allen police officer who happened to be at the mall at the time.
The only security guard on duty at the mall on the day of the shooting, the lawsuit alleged, was LaCour, who was one of the eight victims killed.
The lawsuit is seeking numerous damages for the families of the victims.
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