Guaranteed Rate Field shooting lawsuit filed

“Jane Doe” disputes shots came from outside the park, suffers trauma from the incident’s initial speculation and silence since

With three days to go before the one-year anniversary of the shooting incident at Guaranteed Rate Field, the attorney for the 42-year-old Chicago teacher who was struck in the leg by a bullet has filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court against the White Sox, concessions operator AtYourSerice LLC and the Illinois Sports Facility Authority (owners of the ballpark).

Naperville personal injury attorney John J. Malm claims in the suit on behalf of the unidentified victim that the shots came from inside the stadium. Chicago police had initially come to that conclusion, but White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf vehemently denied such a thing was even possible given his excellent security, and Chicago police have been almost totally silent for the near year since the billionaire made that claim. There was some indication six months ago police would have a report with an update, but it never was released.

In a media release, Malm outlined the claim: “The defendants had a duty to protect attendees from foreseeable dangers, including firearms. Our client, an innocent attendee, suffered serious injuries as a result of the failure to take proper security measures, we believe.” The bullet had ended up in the woman’s leg and reports after the incident said doctors chose not to remove it.

There had been initial media reports the woman may have smuggled a gun into the stadium herself, which Malm said at the time were completely false, a point he reiterated today. “Speculation and misinformation have only served to compound the trauma experienced by our client,” he said. “The facts of this case will show that our client, referred to in the complaint as “Jane Doe,” is a lifelong Chicago White Sox fan who became an innocent victim of a shooting while seated in the bleachers at Guaranteed Rate Field — as she attended a baseball game with her family and friends.”

Malm did not say in the release how he knew the shots were fired inside the ballpark, though at the time firearms experts said the possibility two bullets fired from outside Guaranteed Rate could land as closely together as did the 40-caliber rounds that ended up in the victim’s leg and the back of a nearby spectator’s hoodie was minuscule.

The White Sox were severely criticized after the incident for not stopping the game against the Oakland A’s, as the shooting in the left field bleachers occurred during the fourth inning of a game Chicago lost, 12-4. The club did call off a scheduled postgame concert.

Visible police action on the case has been largely nonexistent since Reinsdorf made his denial the shots could have come from inside the ballpark. Since the cause would be accidental no matter where the bullets were fired from, the best guess is a charge would be no more than the misdemeanor level of reckless endangerment, for which the statute of limitations expires in six months.