Join Chalkbeat Colorado’s free every day publication to get the newest reporting from us, plus curated information from different Colorado shops, delivered to your inbox.
The household of Luis Garcia, a 16-year-old who was shot exterior Denver’s East Excessive College final yr and died of his accidents, has filed a wrongful loss of life lawsuit in opposition to Denver Public Faculties.
The lawsuit, filed Monday, alleges that East Excessive “subverted and weakened the safety and secure surroundings” of the college when armed law enforcement officials have been eliminated, permitting “potential shooters to consider they might be capable to execute an assault.” The Denver faculty board had voted to take away all faculty useful resource officers from DPS colleges in 2020.
The lawsuit accuses DPS of violating the Claire Davis College Security Act, a state regulation named for a Colorado scholar who died in a college capturing. The regulation permits faculty districts to be held liable in the event that they fail to train “affordable care” to guard college students and employees from “moderately foreseeable” acts of violence at college, together with homicide.
Along with DPS, the lawsuit names previous and current members of the Denver faculty board as defendants. The board reversed its determination to take away armed police from colleges in 2023 after Luis’ loss of life and a capturing inside East Excessive a month later. East Excessive now has two SROs.
A Denver Public Faculties spokesperson mentioned the district doesn’t touch upon pending litigation. Board President Carrie Olson, who has served on the board since 2017, mentioned the identical.
Jose Luis Garcia-Bobadilla, recognized at college as Luis Garcia, was shot whereas sitting in his automobile exterior East Excessive on Feb. 13, 2023, after dropping his cousin off on the faculty. Luis was himself a junior at East Excessive and a gifted soccer participant who wore #11 on his jersey.
Luis was shot within the head. He died of his accidents greater than two weeks in a while Feb. 28, 2023.
Utilizing pseudonyms, the 16-page lawsuit additionally names as defendants a juvenile male and his mom. The lawsuit alleges the juvenile male shot and killed Luis.
The lawsuit says the juvenile male stole a white Kia Sportage, then ran a purple gentle exterior East Excessive, drove the Kia “on a direct path straight to Luis,” and opened hearth on Luis as he sat in his black Honda Accord on faculty property.
The lawsuit says the juvenile male’s mom “knew or ought to have recognized that her son was in possession of firearms, ammunition, and different unlawful weapons” due to his social media and due to “gadgets present in her dwelling by regulation enforcement.”
The lawsuit says the Denver Police Division investigated Luis’ loss of life however that “no expenses have even been filed by the Denver District Lawyer’s Workplace.”
Neither the Denver Police Division nor the Denver District Lawyer’s Workplace responded instantly to a request for touch upon the standing of the case.
Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org .
