Victims of Atlanta shooting sue AlliedBarton Security www.privateofficer.com

 

Atlanta GA April 7 2012 Victims of a deadly Midtown shooting have sued the security company that employed the alleged gunman.

Brian Watts, husband of slain marketing specialist Brittney Watts, and Lauren Garcia, who was paralyzed by the shooting, and Tiffany Ferenczy all filed separated lawsuits against Allied Barton Security Services on Thursday in Fulton County Superior Court.

Allied Barton security guard Nkosi Thandiwe, who has been charged with murder and multiple counts of aggravated assault in the July 15 shooting, remains in Fulton County jail without bond awaiting trial.

The complaints claim negligence on the part of the security company, alleging that rather than securing the Proscenium building at 14th Street and Crescent Avenue where he worked, Thandiwe endangered the three women working in the building, who police say he shot.

According to Atlanta police investigators, Thandiwe approached Brittany Watts in the parking deck of the building and fatally shot her in the neck.

He then took her car and drove out of the parking deck, allegedly firing more shots as he escaped that struck Garcia in the back, severing her spinal cord, and hitting Ferenczy in the leg.

Thandiwe was scheduled to undergo a mental evaluation, but it is unclear if the results have been released.

ManuLife Financial Corp. and John Hancock Life Insurance Co., co-owners of the Proscenium building, were named as defendants in the lawsuit, along with Thandiwe.

All three lawsuits are demanding compensation for medical and/or funeral expenses as well as punitive damages from Allied Barton and its co-defendants.