The specter of violence on public premises across America 🇺🇸
HP "News" Jack!
Last Friday on Okaloosa Island in Florida's Panhandle, a Georgia tourist who was visiting The Boardwalk, a swanky series of shops and cafes located adjacent to one of Florida's pristine Gulf Coast beaches, was stabbed by a machete wielding homeless man.
The Boardwalk
According to Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden, the victim, who was strolling about the premises with his wife (who fled safely away), was stabbed on the back of his shoulder and arm; the victim was taken to a local hospital and is expected to recover fully. The attacker was later confronted by law enforcement and, after rushing towards deputies with the machete, was shot and killed.
It seems that hardly a day goes by in America when innocent people are not attacked by some person with a premeditated or reckless grudge—or someone who is mentally ill and incapable of subduing their worst instincts. Over the past three weeks alone, whether it was the aforementioned machete attack in Florida; the 19 children and two teachers killed by a gunman in Uvalde, Texas; the 10 people killed by a racist gunman in Buffalo, New York, or, any number of shootings at public venues across America during the Memorial Day weekend, it seems that violence and the specter of death loom like a pervasive horror that gives us all some level of pause whenever we venture out into public spaces that should be free from terror.
While I have always believed that it is statistically unlikely that I or the majority of Hobbservation Point readers would be directly impacted by individual or mass acts of violence in public venues, my theory was challenged after the Buffalo shooting when my friend, Dr. Andrea Howard Oliver (a leading history professor at Tallahassee Community College), noted that one of the deceased victims was her close relative; my prayers remain with Dr. Oliver and all of the families that have lost loved ones this year due to mass violence.
Dr. Andrea Howard Oliver and me after shooting an episode of my podcast in January of 2021
A few weeks after the Buffalo shooting, a social media poster accused Dr. Oliver and her family of seeking to "get paid" from their loved one's death. While the comment was rude and in poor taste, when I read it, I couldn't help but to conclude that the poster is wholly uninformed about "why" families are endowed with certain rights to legal redress when a family member is injured or killed on premises open to the public.
When I studied Torts at the University of Florida Levin College of Law back in the day, the very idea of premises liability fascinated me due to my questioning whether property owners should be held liable for the unpredictable bad acts of others? But I soon learned a new "F" word, “foreseeability,” and how premise and business owners in many states are required to foresee possible bad acts—and take reasonable measures to prevent them from occurring!
The Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo moments after 10 innocent victims were murdered by a racist gunman last month…
For example, the next time that you head to a mall or business establishment and notice surveillance cameras or armed security guards, do know that such are deemed reasonable measures to protect patrons from individual acts of violence. Sadly, many businesses do not take these and other precautions, like providing adequate lighting or sentry gates at apartment complexes, sometimes because they figure that the costs of the same exceed the insurance premiums they fork over each month in the event of an attack.
With regards to the Okaloosa Boardwalk stabbing in Florida, it is too early to tell what measures were in place to protect public patrons, but it is highly likely that the stabbing victim will soon "lawyer up" and pursue a claim for damages for physical injuries, medical bills, mental anguish, and any lost wages that accrue during his recovery. Similarly, it is highly likely that the survivors of those killed in Buffalo and Uvalde will sue and receive some measure of compensation for their lost companionship, mental pain and suffering, wages, and costs for funeral expenses.
Children at Robb Elementary running for safety in Uvalde, Texas. 19 children and two adults were killed in the massacre…
Again, while monetary damages will never assuage the violent deaths of loved ones, they serve the dual purposes of easing the financial strain that inevitably occurs following such tragedies—while also pushing business owners to take greater precautions to prevent such events from ever happening again!
This Hobbservation Point segment is proudly sponsored by the Fasig & Brooks Law Firm:
