Columbiana mall, security company sued for $20M over negligence in April shooting

Two women wounded in the Easter weekend shooting at Columbiana Centre have sued the mall’s parent company and its security firm for $20 million.

The eight-page lawsuit filed in federal court in South Carolina accuses Brookfield Properties, which owns Columbiana Centre shopping mall off Harbison Boulevard, and security firm Andy Frain Services of negligence and recklessness.

Neither Brookfield nor Andy Frain Services responded to requests for comment.

This is the first lawsuit filed in response to the April 16 shooting, when 15 people, who ranged in age from 15 to 73, were injured. No one died in the shooting.

Three people have been charged in the shooting, which resulted from a yearslong conflict among the alleged shooters, law enforcement investigators have said.

The two women who filed the lawsuit are sisters, identified as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit, filed by attorney and former state Sen. Vincent Sheheen, says they came to the mall for an Easter celebration when the shooting occurred in the area of the food court.

The two were shot, and the lawsuit claims that only one retail associate from one of the mall’s tenants offered immediate care.

Jane Doe 1 suffered a gun shot that resulted in severe damage to her health. Jane Doe 2 was grazed by a bullet, according to the lawsuit.

“The resulting chaos caused by the shooting created even more fear and trauma for the plaintiffs,” Sheheen wrote in the lawsuit. “(The) plaintiffs have suffered severe and life altering injuries both physical and mental. Some of which resulted in hospitalization, surgeries, rehabilitation and life-altering damages to the body and mental well-being.”

The lawsuit says the Columbia Police Department has more than 100 incident reports on file regarding assaults, robberies and other violent crimes at or around the mall in the last five years.

Because of those previous incidents, local police advised the mall to increase its security presence prior to the shooting, the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit alleges the mall and security company failed to provide adequate security, didn’t properly train employees and didn’t provide proper screening measures at the mall entrances.

“Furthermore, (the) defendants were or should have been aware of prior assaults and other crimes that occurred on the premises, some of which resulted in injuries to patrons due to the lack of proper security and safety being provided,” the lawsuit says.

The mall added enhanced security measures after the shooting, which included a greater police presence and a K-9 trained to sniff out firearms.