Sandy Hook Lawsuit: Appellate Court Rules In Favor Of Town

NEWTOWN, CT — The state Appellate Court agreed with the lower court to throw out a lawsuit against the Town of Newtown that was filed by some of the parents of Sandy Hook School shooting victims.

The parents of Jesse Lewis and Noah Pozner sought an undisclosed amount in damage from the town.

The lawsuit argued that school security guidelines weren’t followed in part because a school lockdown wasn’t announced when the incident began to unfold. The shooter killed 20 children and six educators before shooting himself on Dec. 14, 2012.

The town argued that it had governmental immunity from the lawsuit because the acts or failure to act were not the proximate cause of the children’s death and that the school system couldn’t be held liable for the criminal acts of the shooter because he wasn’t an agent or employee of the town or school system.

“Accordingly, we agree with the trial court and conclude that no reasonable juror could have found that the school security guidelines imposed a ministerial duty upon the faculty and staff,” the appellate judges wrote in their opinion.