Wrongful death suit dismissed

2 Sandy Hook families lose bid to appeal against Newtown

NEWTOWN — The state’s highest court has denied the appeal of two families that lost children in the Sandy Hook shooting and sued the town and school district for negligence.

The decision, announced by the state Supreme Court on Thursday, ends a fouryear legal battle by the parents of two firstgraders who argued that educators failed to follow their own safety protocol when a gunman shot his way into Sandy Hook School and committed the worst crime in modern Connecticut history.

The Supreme Court’s ruling upholds a decision in May by state Superior Court Judge Robin Wilson to dismiss the families’ wrongful death suit. Wilson ruled that educators exercised reasonable discretion.

Monte Frank, a lawyer representing Newtown and the Board of Education, declined to comment on the Supreme Court decision on Friday.

Newtown’s top elected leader also declined to comment about the end of a lawsuit that upset some family members, who said it was offensive

to suggest that the actions of educators who were killed trying to defend firstgraders were anything less than heroic.

“Out of respect for everyone involved, I am going to refrain from commenting,” Newtown First Selectman Dan Rosenthal said.

The two families’ suit against Newtown is separate from a higherprofile wrongful death lawsuit brought by 10 Sandy Hook families against the maker of the AR15style rifle used in the shooting.

That lawsuit against Remington is being heard in state Supreme Court.

An attorney representing the two families said that until public schools

are accountable for following their own safety protocol, “public schools will never be a safe place for our children.”

“This decision proves what we set out to prove; that the laws regarding public school immunity prevent the public from making them keep our children safe,” Donald Papcsy said in a prepared statement. “Hopefully, our legislators will take notice, as they have in other states, and make laws that create accountability so that we can make sure that our children come home at the end of the day.”

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