Family of security guard fatally stabbed inside Macy’s suing store

The family of Eric Harrison, the Macy’s security guard who was fatally stabbed at the Center City Macy’s last month, is suing the department store, along with its affiliates, claiming the lack of security and safety measures led to his death.

On Tuesday, just blocks away from the Macy’s where Harrison worked as a loss prevention officer, Harrison’s parents Dawn Fobbs and Eric Coates and their attorneys Eric Zajac and Evan Padilla announced a civil lawsuit against Macy’s Retail Holdings LLC and seven other entities, including the building’s owners, for not having enough security in place to protect their son and to respond to what attorneys said was rampant retail theft and a “safety crisis” in the area.

The suit, filed Monday in Common Pleas Court, will seek damages for Harrison’s death, Zajac said Tuesday. While he did not specify a specific amount being sought, Zajac said he expected the amount would be in the “many millions.”

“Safety and security failures gave rise to criminal opportunity,” said Zajac. “We were hired to get some answers to some very important, very good questions and to hold accountable those who share responsibility for those safety and security failures. Failures that contributed to the death of Eric Harrison.”

Macy’s declined to comment on the civil suit

“We remain heartbroken about the tragedy that took place at Macy’s Center City,” a Macy’s spokesperson said in an email. “Our hearts go out to the Harrison family during this difficult time. Per our policy on pending litigation, we have no additional comments at this time.”

On Dec. 4, Tyrone Tunnell, 30, tried to steal hats from the department store at 13th and Market Streets just before 11 a.m., police said. When security guards confronted him and retrieved the stolen items, he initially left without issue, police said.

Minutes later, Tunnell returned, angered at the confrontation, and approached the two guards, who were both unarmed, police said. After they started arguing, Tunnell brandished a pocket knife and stabbed both men.

Fobbs said Tuesday that her son did not encounter Tunnell before the fatal stabbing.

When officers arrived, they found Harrison, 27, with a laceration to his neck, and the other guard with stab wounds to his face, groin, chest and back.

Both men were taken to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where Harrison was pronounced dead.

Tunnell was charged with murder, attempted murder and related crimes.