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Several victims of the Greenwood Park Mall mass shooting have filed a lawsuit in Marion Superior Court against Simon Property Group and Allied Universal Event Services.
Among the allegations in the complaint, Simon and Allied, who were contracted to provide security services for the mall, are accused of failing to take reasonable steps to prevent the July 17, 2022, mass shooting.
Plaintiff victims include two sisters, Kaya Stewart and a minor referred to as “O.S.,” who were in the food court together and their mother, Eumeka “Meka” Stewart, who was nearby in the mall when assailant Jonathan Sapirman opened fire. Husband and father Samuel Stewart III is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit as the legal guardian of O.S.
Kaya Stewart was shot multiple times, incapacitated and sustained life-threatening injuries.
She was by her sister’s side when Sapirman turned his weapon on O.S., firing at O.S. as she turned and ran. The shots missed O.S. but hit the packages she was carrying at the time.
Plaintiff Eumeka “Meka” Stewart was walking to meet her daughters when the shooting began. She was forced to run in the opposite direction of the food court as a large crowd rushed to escape.
Given the prevalence of mass shootings in numerous malls across America, the suit claims that it was foreseeable to defendants Simon and Allied that similar events could likely occur.
Greenwood Park Mall shooting
The complaint alleges that this incident would have been preventable if the dozens of video feeds throughout the parking lot and mall were adequately staffed, and/or all the cameras working properly, and/or if the food court had been appropriately monitored by security personnel.
Sapirman went unnoticed on mall property as he walked through the parking lot of the mall, into the mall and then a restroom near the food court while carrying a long, heavy black backpack.
Donning an ammunition vest, he spent over an hour assembling weapons, including a Sig Sauer model 400M rifle, Smith and Wesson M&P15 rifle, Glock model 33 handgun, six fully loaded 5.56 magazines and two Glock 33 magazines.
No Simon employee or Allied security personnel attended the men’s restroom for more than an hour while Sapirman was in it contrary to mall protocol.
Additionally, no Allied security personnel were present in the mall’s food court at the time of the shooting.
The Plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Greg Laker and Andrea Simmons from the law firm of Cohen & Malad, LLP, Indianapolis.
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