A Michigan State University student sued his alma mater on Tuesday for gross negligence causing serious and permanent emotional and physical trauma in relation to the 2023 shooting on campus.
The lawsuit, Bowman v. MSU (USEDM Docket No. 25-00162), was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. The complaint also names members of the MSU Board of Trustees, as well as the university’s public safety and infrastructure planning department.
“The individually named defendants are each responsible through their actions for enacting policies and procedures that increased the risk to the staff and students, causing the students to be in direct harm, and acting in a manner that was so reckless as to demonstrate a substantial lack of concern for whether an injury results,” the lawsuit said. “The acts committed by the defendants completely shocks the conscious. The students at Michigan State University, and the plaintiff in particular, would have been safer had the defendants not taken the actions that they did. Their actions allowed a gunman unfettered access to the instructional buildings and classrooms on February 13, 2023.”
The plaintiff is seeking more than $50 million in damages. The lawsuit was filed two days prior to the second anniversary of the shooting, which killed Arielle Anderson, Brian Fraser and Alexandria Verner.
The crux of the complaint asserts that the gunman was allowed unfettered access to Berkey Hall, where the shooter first opened fire, with no security personnel nearby to stop him nor any measures in place to secure the building. No identification verification was in place on doors allowing only authorized students and staff to enter the building, and that having those measures could have prevented the shooting.
Berkey Hall recently reopened for academic use, with renovations done to the classrooms where the shooting took place. MSU implemented a campus-wide electronic locking system after the shooting, which student advocates said should have been in place well beforehand.
“Michigan State University had the technology and equipment to allow for virtual classes to be held and had the ability to retain security personnel and other appropriate measures to secure its instructional buildings. Michigan State University had the money and the funding to install door locks,” the complaint said. “Berkey Hall and other campus buildings were left open to the public and outsiders were able to obtain access to the buildings and roam the buildings without any security. Outsiders are able to freely roam the buildings without any screenings or identifiable reason to be in the building. Michigan State University knew that there were no security measures in place to limit access to the buildings, including Berkey Hall.”
The complaint also asserts that the university should have heeded the warnings and lessons from other numerous school or university campus shootings that had occurred up to that point and installed security measures.
As to direct trauma and harm, the plaintiff said he held a dying student in his arms and attempted to stop bleeding from a bullet wound in her head, leaving him emotionally scarred.
“Every single day, Mr. Bowman thinks of this horrific event and relives that tragic time,” the lawsuit said.
– By Ben Solis
