The first piece of legal action stemming from the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on December 14 has been made public. The legal action is a $100 million claim filed on behalf of a six-year-old survivor of the shooting that claimed the lives of 20 children and six adults, according to Reuters.
The client in the lawsuit is identified only as ‘Jill Doe,’ who heard “cursing, screaming and shooting” on the intercom system at the school when the shooter opened fire inside the building. The lawsuit was filed by New Haven attorney Irv Pinsky.
“As a consequence, the … child has sustained emotional and psychological trauma and injury, the nature and extent of which are yet to be determined,” the claim said.
The claim was filed on Thursday by Pinsky with the Connecticut State Claims Commissioner, J. Paul Vance Jr. Vance’s office has to provide permission prior to a lawsuit being filed against the state.
“We all know it’s going to happen again,” Pinsky said. “Society has to take action.”
The claim filed by Pinsky blames that Connecticut Board of Education, the Department of Education and the Education Commissioner for failing to take appropriate measures to protect the children from “foreseeable harm.” The claim noted that those named failed to provide students with a “safe school setting” or create “an effective student safety emergency response plan and protocol.”
Pinsky told reporters that the parents of the child approached him not long following the shooting.