Judge: Lawsuit over tips before Parkland shooting can proceed

A lawsuit filed by some Parkland parents against the FBI and the federal government can move forward, a judge ruled Monday.

U.S. District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas denied the government’s motion to dismiss the suit over the FBI‘s handling of tips before the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

The government argued in April that the families could not sue the federal government under Florida law and that they could not sue under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which allows people to sue the federal government in federal court.

Attorney Robert M. Stein is representing Philip and April Schentrup, whose daughter Carmen Schentrup died in the shooting, and the family of Anthony Borges, who survived the shooting. Stein said the decision was “rare” and called it a victory for victims’ families and survivors.

“We’re just really pleased that after a lot of hard work, the right ruling was reached,” he said. “It’s exceedingly rare, in my review of case law, at least, for cases brought against federal governmental law enforcement agencies to get past this motion to dismiss phase. It’s really meaningful and we think we have really good facts here.”

Top officials at the FBI have publicly admitted they “committed serious, grave errors” when their agents took the tips and then did nothing with them, but the government’s filings in the litigation have shown a different position.

The lawsuit, originally filed by the Schentrups and the parents of Jaime Guttenberg in November 2018, seeks damages from the U.S. government. The families argue that the FBI bears responsibility for the deaths of their children due to the agency’s handling of tips it received about the confessed shooter Nikolas Cruz.

In March, Dimitrouleas said there were substantial delays because the government was “improperly withholding relevant material.”

Now, the federal government is required to respond to Monday’s decision within 14 days, according to the ruling.