Shooting Victim Lawyers

Can I sue for being shot?

Often, yes. When you’re shot on someone else’s property — an apartment complex, a parking lot, a nightclub, a gas station — you may have a civil claim against the property owner or business whose failure to provide reasonable security helped allow the shooting to happen. This is called a negligent security claim, and it is separate from any criminal case against the shooter.

This matters for a simple reason: the person who pulled the trigger is often never caught, or has no money or insurance to pay for the harm they caused. The property owner usually does. Suing the property responsible for your safety is frequently the only realistic path to the compensation a serious gunshot injury demands.

Who can be held responsible when you’re shot on a property?

Depending on the facts, the responsible parties can include:

• The property owner who failed to secure the premises
• The management company that ran the property day to day
• The security company hired to protect it — and didn’t

The shooter is also liable, but a civil claim against a property owner with insurance is usually what makes a real recovery possible.

When is a property owner liable for a shooting?

A property owner can be held responsible when a shooting was foreseeable and they failed to take reasonable steps to prevent it. Courts look hard at the property’s history: prior shootings, robberies, assaults, gang activity, or repeated police calls all show the owner knew the danger. If they knew — and still had no guards, broken gates, dark parking lots, or cameras that didn’t work — their negligence may have helped cause your injury.

Where do these shootings happen?

• Apartment complexes — the most common negligent-security shooting cases
• Parking lots and garages — isolated, poorly lit, uncontrolled
• Bars and nightclubs — known violence, no screening, no guards
• Gas stations and convenience stores — repeat robbery targets
• Shopping centers and stores — foreseeable, ignored risk

What is a shooting-victim case worth?

It depends entirely on the facts, but gunshot injuries are often catastrophic and lifelong. A claim can seek compensation for past and future medical care (including lifetime care for paralysis or brain injury), lost income and earning capacity, and the physical and emotional suffering the shooting caused. When a loved one is killed, a wrongful-death claim can recover funeral costs, lost support, and the family’s profound loss.

The firm won a $102.7 million verdict for a man who was shot and left a ventilator-dependent quadriplegic because of inadequate security — the largest negligent-security verdict in U.S. history.

How long do you have to sue?

Deadlines vary by state. In Florida, you generally have two years from the date of the shooting to file (reduced from four years in 2023). Critical evidence — surveillance footage, security staffing records, prior-crime reports — can disappear within days. The sooner a lawyer can preserve it, the stronger your case.

Why shooting victims choose The Haggard Law Firm

Attorney Michael A. Haggard is the only plaintiff’s lawyer in U.S. history to win three separate $100 million verdicts, and the firm has handled nearly 500 negligent-security cases. We represent shooting victims and their families nationwide, and you pay nothing unless we win.