DALLAS — Editor's note: The above video was from a previous story on witness accounts of the event.
The first lawsuit following a deadly concert shooting in southern Dallas has been filed by the parents of a 14-year-old girl who was seriously injured in the incident, the family’s attorney announced Friday.
Last week, a shooting during a trail ride and concert left 16 people injured and a 26-year-old man dead, according to the Dallas Police Department.
The parents of a 14-year-old girl – who attended the event with her volleyball team – filed a lawsuit against the promoters, organizers and the artists of the concert, accusing them of negligence and failing to obtain the proper permits.
According to the original petition filed by the family, they also accused the defendants of not having the proper safety measures in place to protect the public.
The shooting happened around 12:13 a.m. Sunday, April 3, at 5050 Cleveland Road. Dallas police said someone fired a gun into the air, and then a fight broke out and another person fired shots into the crowd of at least 2,000 people.
The parents of the 14-year-old said their child suffered a “serious, life-changing gunshot wound,” and she “deserves, and she demands, justice.”
In a press release from the family’s attorneys, it says as the event drew closer, the organizers posted to social media that it would be “fun and safe” and that there would be “ground rules that would be in place.”
The release also pointed to multiple flyers that read there would be police and security on site at the event, with attendees entering through specified gates with metal detectors.
Dallas Police said six off-duty officers and a sergeant worked as security for the event, but they were only paid to be at the event until 11 p.m., so they were all gone when the shooting occurred after midnight.
Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia held a news conference on April 4 and said the officers should not have been given permission to work that event due to it not having the proper permits.
Garcia said the department was currently working two investigations – the criminal case into who committed the shooting and who should be responsible and an internal review into why the officers and the sergeant were working the event.
“This kind of negligence and senseless tragedy should never happen in our city. Those responsible must be held accountable and brought to justice through our legal system – for this family and for all the victims,” said Lead Attorney for the Plaintiffs, personal injury lawyer Ryan L. Thompson of Thompson Law.
The chief also issued a letter to the department prohibiting off-duty work at events that don’t have a permit with 100 or more guests.
This was the second mass shooting that occurred in southern Dallas at an event that in the last month.
In mid-March, 10 people were injured in a shooting during a spring break party at the southern Dallas venue The Space. One victim, an 18-year-old man, later died from his injuries. Police are still searching for persons of interest and suspects in that shooting too.