Acropolis Nightclub Shooting: William “Billy” Peters and Adam David-Lawrence Arrambide killed in night club shooting.
Billy Peters and Adam David-Lawrence Arrambide were tragically killed in March at a shooting at the Acropolis nightclub in Southeast Portland. They were both shot in the club’s parking lot as they were trying to leave. Both men grew up in Lincoln City and were husbands, fathers, and family men. No arrests have been made; to date, Portland police have responded to 355 shootings—a record. The Portland Police Bureau has lost control of Portland gun violence, and Portland is now more dangerous than it has been in decades.
The Acropolis club, just like all businesses and nightclubs, can be liable for “third-party” shootings, fights, and other violent attacks which occur on their property, under premises liability law. If a shooting victim is a “business invitee” on the property, the business has a duty of care to that person to protect its customer. As possessors of premises, the nightclub had an obligation to take reasonable steps to protect the nightclub’s visitors from reasonably foreseeable criminal acts by third persons.
Under the law, and landowner who knows or has reason to know, from past experience, that there is a likelihood of conduct on the part of third persons in general which is likely to endanger the safety of the visitor, even though he has no reason to expect it on the part of any particular individual, may be liable for injuries or death of a customer. If the “place or character” of his business, or his past experience, is such that he should reasonably anticipate careless or criminal conduct on the part of third persons, either generally or at some particular time, he may be under a duty to take precautions against it, and to provide a reasonably sufficient number of servants to afford a reasonable protection.
Negligence claims arising from third-party criminal acts often involve the defendant’s failure to monitor or screen a dangerous third person (i.e. failure to have metal detectors at the entrance to the building) or the placement of another person at unreasonable risk of criminal harm at a location and in circumstances that are unsafe (i.e. failure to have security guards). . In either situation, there is a common requirement: a trier of fact must be able to find from concrete facts that a reasonable person in the position of the defendant reasonably would have foreseen that the person or location and circumstances posed a risk of criminal harm to persons such as the plaintiff.
If you have been the victim of a violent crime while on a business premises, you may have a claim against that business. Jonah Flynn is a premises liability attorney who has recovered millions for premises liability claimants. If you are interested in filing a claim, you need to act quickly to start gathering evidence, locating and interviewing witnesses, and securing the information you need to win your case.
