The parents of 15-year old Saugus High School student Gracie Muehlberger who was shot and killed on the Saugus High School’s Santa Clarita California campus one year ago have filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court against the William S. Hart Union High School District over its failure to take basic steps to supervise students on campus.
“In eight short seconds, Gracie’s life and Dominic’s life were taken. Our lives, the lives of the Blackwells, the lives of so many young children at this school, their families, and our small community were changed forever. I’m sharing my story in the hope of preventing future tragedies and sparing other families the pain that mine has experienced.” Bryan Muehlberger, Gracie’s father.
Julie Fieber, a partner at Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP representing Bryan and Cindy Muehlberger stated, “Parents trust schools to take basic commonsense steps to keep children stay safe once they come onto campus.”
Fieber goes on to say, “ Why even have security cameras if no one is going to monitor them? Why have guards on the campus if they aren’t going to guard the students.” Fieber further stated, “A minimal notions of the school’s duty to supervise include taking steps to intervene and check on an obviously troubled student who spent nearly an hour standing in a trance-like state in the middle of campus!”
Security on the campus was supposed to be provided by one unarmed sheriff’s deputy and nine “campus supervisors” who act as guards, according to the chief administrative officer for the School District, as alleged in the complaint, none of these personnel were present at the time of the shooting. Finally, Fieber charged, “The school failed in its duty to ensure that personnel were watching over the campus and students that day.”
