Carolina Personal Injury News

Will The $10 million Virginia Tech Wrongful Death Lawsuits Go Forward?

No one will soon forget the Virginia Tech shootings that took place in April 2007, in which student Seung-Hui Cho went on a shooting rampage that killed 32 people and wounded dozens more. The suicide massacre is the most deadly school shooting in United States history, and is also the largest and most violent single-shooter mass murder event in the United States.

Now a Virginia judge is listening to the arguments for and against two $10 million wrongful death lawsuits that argue that the school did not respond in the correct way after Cho killed his first victim in an act of violence that occurred hours before the second wave of murders. They also argue that a number of mental health facilities and services did not act even when sever professors reported his disturbing behavior. The two families, the relatives of shooting victims Julia Pryde and Erin Peterson, have filed the wrongful death lawsuit against the workers at the counseling center where Cho sought help, school officials, and the estate of Cho himself.

Franklin County Circuit Court Judge William Alexander is hearing the arguments of both sides of the wrongful death suit this week, but has not been able to make a decision in either direction. He is expected to hand down his decision on January 15. The ruling, which will answer the question of whether the officials are immune to civil action and will decide whether or not the case will be investigated more deeply.

A number of relatives of victims and survivors of the shooter were in the courtroom.

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About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a law firm whose attorneys focus on injury and accident law and we have experience handling wrongful death cases. We serve every area of North Carolina, including the Outer Banks, Nags Head and the western mountains, as well as all the cities and counties in between. In South Carolina, we cover the state from Myrtle Beach and Charleston to Orangeburg, Columbia, Florence, Rock Hill, Darlington, Aiken, Anderson, Greenville and Spartanburg. 

Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been listed among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008 and listed in the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009. Our North Carolina injury law firm has also been named one of the Best Injury Law Firms in North Carolina for personal injury plaintiffs since 2010 by U.S. News & World Report. Additionally, our firm has the highest rating of AV from national lawyer ranking organization Martindale-Hubbell. That means we have a reputation for demonstrating preeminent legal skill.

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