Families of two students killed in the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings filed this week to overturn a $100,000 cap on claims against the state which would prevent them from receiving a $4 million sum a jury awarded them March 14.
Attorney Robert Hall, who represents the two families of Erin Peterson and Julia Pryde, said in an email Virginia Tech was guilty of negligence because it failed to warn the school community an armed shooter was on campus April 16, 2007. "We prevailed at the jury trial and believe we will prevail on appeal if one is taken," he said.
Virginia Tech News Director Mark Owczarski released a statement at the time of the verdict which expressed disappointment and affirmed the university's commitment to its students' safety.
"We... stand by our long-held position that the administration and law enforcement at Virginia Tech did their absolute best with the information available on April 16, 2007," Owczarski said in the statement.
Caroline Gibson, deputy director of communication for the Virginia attorney general's office, said the state was also disappointed by the March 14 verdict.
"The uncontradicted evidence presented at trial established that it was the unanimous decision of three law enforcement agencies that the mass shooting was simply not foreseeable," Gibson said in an email. "Only with hindsight can one conclude that Cho's unprecedented acts were foreseeable, and the subsequent mass shooting following the initial murders had to be foreseeable for Virginia Tech's duty to arise to warn the entire campus."
After the verdict, an attorney for the state asked the judge to reduce the settlement to $100,000 per plaintiff in line with the Virginia Tort Claims Act, which establishes the cap on claims against the state. Only actions by the governor, attorney general or General Assembly can lift the limit on the amount paid in damages.
Hall said the state will present and argue motions against the $4 million settlement in late April or early May. The Peterson and Pryde families originally filed their lawsuits April 16, 2009, the second anniversary of the students' deaths.
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