Fifteen-year-old Anthony Borges was shot three times in the leg and twice in the torso while barricading the door of his classroom where 20 other students were hiding when gunman Nikolas Cruz’s rampage unfolded, killing 17.
Borges has spent months in the hospital and has undergone nine surgeries. While being the most wounded survivor, Borges has not joined his peers in calling for increased gun control. Rather, he blames the Sheriff and school superintendent.
In a statement he penned directed at Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel and Superintendent Robert Runcie, Borges wrote that “Runcie and Israel failed us students, teachers and parents alike on so many levels. I want all of us to move forward to end the environment that allowed people like Nikolas Cruz to fall through the cracks. You knew he was a problem years ago and you did nothing. He should have never been in school with us.”
And now, Borges is the first victim of the Stoneman Douglass school shooting to file a lawsuit.
According to the Daily Wire:
Borges and his family are seeking “damages in excess of $15,000.00, exclusive of interest, costs, and attorney’s fees,” against the multiple defendants.
“The suit names [the shooter], foster parents James and Kimberly Snead, Henderson Behavioral Health, Inc., Jerome Golden Center for Behavioral Health, Inc., South County Mental Health Center, Inc., and the estate of [the shooter’s] biological mother, as defendants in the case,” according to NBC News.
The complaint may seek to name more people than necessary, but Borges’ attorney told media that they are operating on the theory that the shooter, his family, his foster family, and several local psychological facilities to which he was referred, all had ample chances to place a roadblock in the shooter’s way.
Admittedly, I was surprised they asked for such little ($15,000 for life-threatening injuries), but perhaps that’s because this lawsuit isn’t about money, but proving where the blame lies for the shooting in a court of law.
Borges’ attorney also says the family will likely be filing a lawsuit against “other entities” (like the high school and the Broward County Sheriffs Department) in the lawsuit, and they may be the first of many.
Just a week ago, Lisa Olsen, the mother of a Stoneman Douglas school shooting survivor, William, slammed the Broward County School Board for not reaching out to students who bore injuries. “Even the president of the United States, the first lady, the governor, the attorney general, the chief of staff, and the senator had time to hug my son, but not my school district and not my son’s principal.”
I won’t be surprised if we find the reason the school was so happy to participate in the pro-gun control media circus is that they wanted to deflect attention away from their own failings.
What do you think? Does this Parkland student have a case against the county? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
