First responders from Johnson, Marion and Bartholomew counties respond to a mass shooting at the Greenwood Park Mall on July 17, 2022.
Daily Journal File Photo
GREENWOOD — An Indianapolis woman shot during the Greenwood Park Mall shooting and her family are suing the mall’s owner and security company for negligence in failing to prevent the shooting.
Attorneys for 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 1 Tuesday. Kaya Stewart suffered severe, life-threatening injuries from being shot, according to the lawsuit.
Although the shooting took place in Johnson County, it was filed in Marion County as it was where Simon is located, along with the registered agent of Allied. The suit accuses both organizations of negligence and gross negligence. Simon is also being sued on a separate count under Indiana’s Premise Liability Law, which says a property owner is responsible for any injuries, damages or deaths that occur to people who are legally on their property if the incident occurs because of unsafe property conditions.
On the afternoon of July 17, 2022, a 20-year-old gunman entered the Greenwood Park Mall at an entrance near the food court with a bag of guns. He went into the bathroom near the food court for an hour to prepare for the shooting.
He opened fire around 5:56 p.m., killing Indianapolis couple Pedro Pineda, 56, and Rosa Mirian Rivera de Pineda, 37, along with Victor Gomez, 30, also of Indianapolis. He also injured a 22-year-old female and a 12-year-old female before he was fatally shot by 22-year-old Seymour resident Elisjsha “Eli” Dicken, the armed bystander hailed as a “good Samaritan.”
The shooting itself lasted for 15 seconds, until the gunman was shot by Dicken.
The lawsuit says that Kaya Stewart was one of several people who were injured during the shooting. She was sitting at a table in the food court near where the gunman opened fire. The gunman first shot at the juvenile, missing them but striking several items they had in their hands, according to the lawsuit.
Attorneys for Kaya Stewart allege negligence on the part of the mall and the security agency, which caused her and the juvenile to be in fear of their safety, and to obtain bodily injuries and other damages. Stewart’s mother, who was present at the mall the day of the shooting, and her father, are also co-plaintiffs on the lawsuit.
“It was foreseeable to Simon and Allied on July 17, 2022, that this particular perpetrator — given his age, appearance, behavior, and because of the unique backpack he was carrying — all fit the well-recognized profile of a potential mass shooter,” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit alleges Simon had a “duty of reasonable care” to protect Stewart, the juvenile and other patrons against dangers the mall knew or should have known.
“Those dangers included the fact that dangerous and criminal activity had previously occurred at the Greenwood Park Mall, including race-based threats, and that mass shootings had occurred in many malls and public spaces throughout the U.S. in the months and years leading up to this shooting,” the lawsuit says.
They also allege both Simon and Allied had a duty to provide a safe shopping mall for customers but failed. The mall and the security agency should have taken “reasonable steps” to prevent the shooting from occurring, according to the lawsuit.
Stewart’s attorneys allege that no action was taken by the mall 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. They also allege no Allied security personnel were in the food court at the time of the shooting, later saying that one security guard had left the mall through an exit near the food court minutes before the gunman exited the restroom.
“A guard’s presence in the parking lot, mall corridors, food court, and/or restroom, if noticed by the shooter, may have deterred the [a]ssailant from carrying out the shooting,” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit also cites several alleged failings on the part of Simon and Allied. These include a need for security personnel training, inadequate emergency plans and a lack of monitoring of parking lots, the food court and restrooms.
Stewart and her co-plaintiffs are seeking an undisclosed amount of compensation for past and future economic damages including medical-related expenses, lost wages and loss of earning capacity. They are also seeking past and future non-economic damages, which includes bodily injury of a serious and permanent nature, pain and suffering, permanent physical disability, inconvenience, emotional stress, anxiety loss of enjoyment of life and impairment of the quality of life.
Claims made in filing a lawsuit represent only one side of the case and may be contested in later court action.
