GREENWOOD, Indiana – After the tragic shooting at Greenwood Park Mall on July 17, 2022, an Indianapolis woman and her family have taken legal action against the mall’s owner and security company, alleging negligence in preventing the shooting. Kaya Stewart and her family filed a lawsuit against Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group and the mall’s security agency, California-based Allied Universal Event Services, in Marion County Superior Court. The lawsuit claims that the mall and security agency failed to take reasonable steps to prevent the shooting, resulting in severe, life-threatening injuries to Stewart.
The lawsuit also alleges that the mall’s owner and security agency had a duty to provide a safe shopping environment but failed to do so. It claims that no action was taken to safely evacuate shoppers or other people inside the mall from the time the gunman entered the property to when he went into the bathroom to prepare for the shooting. The absence of security personnel in the food court at the time of the shooting is also highlighted in the lawsuit.
The tragic event unfolded when a 20-year-old gunman entered the Greenwood Park Mall armed and opened fire near the food court, resulting in the deaths of three individuals and injuring several others. The lawsuit states that Stewart was one of several people injured during the shooting, and it calls for compensation for past and future economic and non-economic damages, including medical-related expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and emotional stress.
The lawsuit serves as the side of the case presented by the plaintiff and will be subject to contestation in future court proceedings. The tragedy has sparked conversations about improving security measures in public spaces to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.
In the aftermath of the devastating shooting at Greenwood Park Mall, the legal action taken by Kaya Stewart and her family aims to hold the mall’s owner and security agency accountable for the alleged failure to prevent the tragedy, seeking compensation for the physical and emotional impact of the incident. The lawsuit brings attention to the importance of ensuring the safety and security of individuals in public spaces, prompting discussions on ways to enhance security measures to prevent similar incidents from happening again.