Dozens of notices of claims of wrongful death or negligence related to the Virginia Tech shootings were filed by a Tuesday deadline, preserving the right of families of victims to bring charges against Virginia Tech, local authorities and Commonwealth officials in the future. Tuesday represented the six-month anniversary of the Virginia Tech shootings.
According to David Clementson, spokesperson for the Virginia Attorney General's Office, the state has received 21 notices, and Montgomery County and the Town of Blacksburg have each received 25 notices.
Clementson and University Law Prof. George Rutherglen emphasized that the notices are a preliminary step in the legal process.
"A notice of claim merely preserves legal options for the party that filed it," he said. "The party has a chance later to file a lawsuit."
According to the notices of claim from the Town of Blacksburg, 17 families of students and faculty killed in the shootings and eight families of the wounded have filed notices with the town.
The claims consist of allegations against the Town of Blacksburg and more specifically against the police, leaving open the possibility of future legal action against the police department and Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech officials were unavailable for comment at press time.
A notice of claim filed on behalf of one of the victims states, "The Town of Blacksburg is being notified because the deaths occurred within the town limits of Blacksburg, and the police department of that town ... participated in activities which resulted in a failure to protect both the deceased and injured students and faculty at the university on that date."
Certain statutes protect the Town and the Commonwealth from particular legal charges, including a legal tenant called sovereign immunity, according to attorney Richard D. Heideman, who represents one of the victims.
"Sovereign immunity works the same way for a state government or town as for a monarch in Europe who you can't bring legal action against," Heideman said. "There is a long list of statutes that exist about what types of cases can and cannot be filed against a locality or state government."
Despite sovereign immunity, the notices could still lead to possible charges, Heideman added.
Individual notices of claim concerning separate victims, however, are not the only notices of claim that have been filed, according to Texas attorney Mitchell Toups, who filed a notice for a class-action suit on behalf of the victims.
"The reason I filed the notice was because the majority of the people that potentially have a claim don't know about the six-month process," he said. "I'm trying to protect all the people who don't know about the [time] limit and all the people who were traumatized by the shooting by putting the city government on notice."
Because a class-action suit requires a large group of victims with the same complaint, often indistinguishable on their own, it is unlikely an actual case will be filed, Heideman said.
"In this case we know who the individual [victims] are, and it is also determinable who was injured, so while I don't rule out a [class action] filing, I would envision it to be handled as individual cases," he added.
According to Heideman, it is unclear what charges the victims' families will bring to court, but because of the notices of claim, those families will have the opportunity to do so.
"As to what cases will unfold, only time will tell," he added.
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