As the nation’s focus returned to El Paso for the reopening of the Cielo Vista Walmart where 22 people died in a mass shooting, media outlets spoke with Fears Nachawati trial lawyer Brice Burris for context about ongoing litigation against the retailer.
The Fears Nachawati team has joined a pre-litigation investigation on behalf of shooting victims and family members in order to fully investigate how the tragedy occurred and whether improved security could have prevented it.
The filing charges that there was no security personnel on-site to deter such an attack. Accused gunman Patrick Crusius has told investigators that he “cased” the Cielo Vista Walmart store and determined that it was a “soft target” because of lax security.
From KTVT Ch. 11:
Attorney Brice Burris and the team at Fears Nachawati in Dallas are gearing up for a huge legal fight against Walmart on behalf of more than six victims’ families and others who were hurt. He says Walmart stores have had security issues in the past and they should have been better prepared.
“It goes back to foreseeability,” Mr. Burris said. “What did Walmart know a before this? IF there was there a risk assessment, could the event have been prevented? Absolutely.”
From the Fox News Network:
Brice Burris, an attorney at the Fears Nachawati law firm in Dallas, represents victims and families of the deceased in a lawsuit against Walmart and the shooter, Patrick Crusius. He said the company needed to do much more than renovations and erecting a memorial honoring the victims of the mass shooting.
“Three years ago, they had armed security guards at this location and it’s a bottom dollar decision, it appears. We’re going to pull these security guards to, at the end of the day, make Walmart a little bit more money at the expense of customer protection,” alleged Burris. “These families they just really want answers. They want to know what Walmart knew and what they could have done.”