With the chilling regularity of mass shootings, such lawsuits have become common across the country. 'Zone of risk': Should incidents nearby have led to more Publix security? “He knew that would give him the opportunity to do what he wanted to do,” the attorney said. When Wall realized there were no security guards and no one was curious about why he was carrying a golf club and a duffle bag, his path was clear, Domnick said. Wall wanted to find out what, if any, obstacles would be in his way if he decided to carry out his plan to kill people. Wall shot her and then turned the gun on himself.ĭomnick described Wall’s first visit to the store as a reconnaissance mission. During the scuffle, she fell to the floor. Litha Varone attempted to wrest the gun away. He pulled a semi-automatic handgun out of the duffle bag and shot Samuel, who was sitting in a shopping cart. He found Varone and her son in the produce section. Roughly 2½ hours later, as the store filled with lunchtime shoppers, Wall returned. Wearing a mask that was then required for COVID-19, the 55-year-old Wall carried a golf club and a duffle bag as he wandered through the aisles. Security cameras showed that the unemployed carpenter, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, first entered the store in The Crossroads shopping plaza on Royal Palm Beach Boulevard shortly before 9 a.m. In the lawsuit filed in Palm Beach County Circuit Court, Domnick said the security lapses emboldened Timothy Wall to carry through with online threats he made to kill children. Lawsuit alleges security lapses at Publix let gunman carry out threat “This isn’t some mom-and-pop operation,” he added.Ī spokesperson for Publix, which publicly offered condolences to the Varone family after the shooting, said it would be "inappropriate" for the company to comment on a pending lawsuit. Providing security would have been “a drop in the bucket” for the bottom line of the privately held company, he said. “They were all about protecting their investment in the things they are selling, but they weren’t interested in protecting their customers,” he said. While security cameras were posted in the store, they were used mainly to thwart shoplifters and weren’t monitored, Domnick said. Instead, he said, the chain, which touts its family-friendly stores as being “where shopping is a pleasure,” didn’t have security guards in place to protect shoppers from gun violence that has become increasingly common in supermarkets. True Crime of Palm Beach County: Killer clown with balloons fatally shoots woman at front door in Wellington Publix shooting: Royal Palm Beach residents say deaths shake their faith that they are safeīus stop deaths: Mother of Royal Palm teen killed in school bus stop crash files lawsuit against SUV driver “There’s technology available for places like Publix if they cared about protecting their customers and their employees,” Domnick said. The Lakeland-based chain, which earned $4.5 billion in 2021 from the 832 stores it operates throughout the Southeast, put profits ahead of customer safety, he said. Their attorney, Sean Domnick, put it more bluntly. “They ignored the need to invest in security and that choice cost us everything.” “Publix ignored every red flag that placed the safety of their customers in jeopardy,” the Varone family said in a statement. More than a year after a 69-year-old Royal Palm Beach woman and her nearly 2-year-old grandson were gunned down by a mentally disturbed man in Publix, their grieving family on Wednesday sued the grocery giant, claiming it could have prevented the tragedy.ĭisputing the notion that the June 2021 deaths of Litha Varone and her grandson, Samuel, were simply random acts of violence, the family said that the chain had plenty of warning that its customers were at risk. Watch Video: Florida Publix shooting: Store still closed, deeply cleaned day after 3 killed
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