Nicolas Elizalde's mother sues Philadelphia schools, PIAA after son's shooting death after football scrimmage
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The mother of Nicolas Elizalde, a 14-year-old Roxborough High School student and football player killed after a scrimmage in 2022, filed two lawsuits against the school district and the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association on Tuesday arguing they failed to keep her son safe from gun violence.
Attorneys for Meredith Elizalde announced the suits in a news release and said she is "looking to hold the school district and athletic association accountable for ignoring the threat of gun violence."
On Sept. 27, 2022, Nicolas Elizalde had just taken part in a football scrimmage at Gorgas Park with members of the football teams from Roxborough, Northeast High School and Boys Latin Charter School.
He was in a group on Fairway Terrace not far from the field after the scrimmage when a group pulled up in an SUV, got out and began shooting. Police believe over 70 shots were fired, hitting multiple members of the group. Elizalde was killed.
"At no time during the several minutes the shooters sat in their vehicle waiting to begin the ambush, nor after the shooting began, did the shooters encounter any security, law enforcement, or District personnel, because none were in the area," one of the suits says.
According to the suits, Meredith Elizalde was waiting nearby to pick Nicolas up when she witnessed the shots, ran over to Nicolas and accompanied him in a police car on the way to the hospital.
The suit references district resources including a written summary of Superintendent Tony Watlington's 100-day listening tour of students, parents and staff conducted during Watlington's first days in the role.
"Among the key summary findings highlighted by the District were: 1) Students, families, and staff at schools in neighborhoods where gun violence and addiction are prevalent shared their experiences of not feeling safe going to and from school," the suit quoted the document as saying.
The suit also references a CBS News Philadelphia article about Kevin Bethel, now-commissioner of the Philadelphia Police Department and former Chief of School Safety.
"Well before this tragedy, the School District of Philadelphia knew the hours after school are the most dangerous time of day for Philadelphia students, and that sports events like the one where Nicolas Elizalde was shot and killed are a magnet for the gun violence that is plaguing our city," attorney Tom Kline, who is representing Meredith Elizalde along with Aaron Dunbar and Wyatt Larkin, said in a statement.
"When a public school district places a 14-year-old student in the shooters' crosshairs without security or protection, it is not just a tragedy. It is a violation of his civil rights," Kline said.
The civil rights lawsuit against the School District of Philadelphia was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, a federal court. The lawsuit against the PIAA is for alleged negligence and was filed in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.
A total of five suspects were arrested for the shooting, with one not caught until over a year later.
The suit against PIAA quotes the organization's webpage saying it will "conserve the health and physical welfare of all participants."
According to that suit, the security contractor XYZ Corp. was assigned to the scrimmage and provided one agent "which was an unreasonably insufficient level of protection for the event."
PIAA and the schools also failed to "exercise reasonable care and caution in protecting Nicolas Elizalde from the assault and violent actions."
Also questioned is why game staff working the scrimmage, like referees, were not escorting student-athletes from locker rooms to the practice field when there was a distance between them.
CBS News Philadelphia has contacted the School District of Philadelphia and PIAA for comment and will update this post if we hear back.