Family of MSU shooting victim Alexandria Verner files intent to sue university
(CBS DETROIT) - The family of Alexandria Verner, one of the three students killed in the Feb. 13 mass shooting at Michigan State University, has filed an intent to sue the university.
The notice of intent was addressed to the university's board of trustees, general counsel, president, and department of police and public safety.
It claims "dangerous and defective" conditions and a lack of security on the university's campus led to the shooting.
According to the notice, the conditions they are referring to include the following:
- Key card access was deactivated before the shooting, allowing access to several buildings on campus
- Lack of ability to lock Berkey Hall doors from inside
- Access control system failed to lock all doors remotely
- Lack of armed security and metal detectors
- Surveillance system didn't provide real-time footage, causing a delay in identifying and finding the suspect.
- Notification system didn't immediately notify all students of the active shooter
In addition, the claim says that five months before the mass shooting, two faculty members expressed concerns about the inability to lock wooden classroom doors.
During a board meeting on Sept. 8, 2022, the police chief at that time, Marlon Lynch, said the wooden doors could be locked remotely. When the mass shooting occurred, this access control system did not lock all of the doors in Berkey Hall or the Union.
Verner graduated from Clawson High School in 2020 and was a junior at Michigan State University.
She was one of the three students killed in the mass shooting. The other two victims are Brian Fraser, a sophomore, and Arielle Anderson, a junior, both from Grosse Pointe.
Since the shooting, the university has put a new emergency alert system in place and plans to test it within the coming weeks.