Marshall County School District sued by families of four victims of 2018 shooting
A lawsuit has been filed against the Marshall County School District by families of four students who were shot at the high school last year when a classmate allegedly opened fire..
According to the lawsuit obtained by WPSD, the families of Bailey Holt, Gage Smock, Dalton Keeling and Mary Bella James sued the school system’s superintendent, its Board of Education members, members of the administration, the alleged shooter, his counselors and the alleged shooter’s parents Tuesday in Marshall County Circuit Court.
Holt was one of two students killed in the Jan. 23, 2018, shooting. The family of Preston Cope, also killed in the shooting, was not among the plaintiffs.
Gabriel Parker is accused of killing Holt and Preston Cope, both 15 years old, and injuring about 18 others when he allegedly opened fire in the school commons. Most of the injuries were gunshot wounds.
The lawsuit claims the Marshall County school system employees “knew or should have known of Gabriel Parker’s dangerous propensities and failed to take any action to monitor, report, intervene or prevent” his actions. Schools are protected from some lawsuits, and that may affect the success of Marshall County parents.
On the day of the shooting, no security measures were in place, the lawsuit alleges. Safety measures at the high school have since been added.
The sued school employees “had a duty to the deceased Bailey Holt, Mary Bella James, Gage Smock and Dalton Keeling to exercise due care for their safety while they were at Marshall County High School,” according to the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs also claim the school defendants “negligently supervised and negligently trained” employees of the high school in executing an appropriate Emergency Action Plan.
Justin Minyard and Mary Garrison Minyard, the stepfather and mother of Parker, were sued for their alleged failure to secure a firearm. Parker used a .22-caliber pistol from his stepfather’s unlocked closet in the shooting, according to the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs claim Parker was receiving private counseling before the shooting, and those unknown counselors were also sued.
“Parker disclosed ... information which would require notifying the authorities of the danger posed by ... Parker,” the lawsuit states.
Parker, who is being held on $1.5 million bail at the McCracken County Juvenile Detention Center, also was among the 18 defendants.
Compensatory and punitive damages were sought by the plaintiffs, but specific amounts were not disclosed.
Sheila Heistand, the plaintiffs’ attorney, told the Courier-Journal “We cannot continue to watch these massacres occur and sit idly by while no one intervenes to save the lives of current and future students and teachers.”
WPSD reported the school district hired attorney Michael Owsley, who represented Heath High School following its deadly shooting in 1997.
Wednesday marks the 1-year anniversary of the shooting.