Dismissal of FedEx mass shooting lawsuit disappoints Sikh community
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A representative of the Indianapolis Sikh community expressed disappointment Tuesday, a day after a federal judge threw out a lawsuit filed by the families of five of the the eight people who died in last year’s shooting at the FedEx Ground facility.
At least four of the eight FedEx employees who were killed on that tragic morning April 15, 2021, were of the Sikh community.
La Casa Del Khalsa, the founder and the chairman of SikhsPAC, knows the families and says the news was difficult to bear. “I felt very sad, and it’s not only this time in particular. Whenever there is any kind of gun violence I feel sad equally.”
In April, families of five of the victims filed a lawsuit seeking unspecified monetary damages. It named FedEx and Securitas Security Services USA as defendants. The lawsuit says that Securitas provided unarmed security for the facility.
La Casa Del Khalsa says gun violence in Indiana has gotten out of hand. “We need to make sure that their lives should not go in vain and we need to join hand in hand with every community to make sure we should have more restrictions on gun rights.”
In Monday’s ruling, U.S. District Judge James Sweeney says that the families’ claims involved the Indiana Workers Compensation Act, which is outside a federal court’s jurisdiction.
But, the ruling allows the suit against Securitas to continue as the company did not file a motion to dismiss.
News 8 reached out to the attorneys for the families for a statement about the dismissed lawsuit, but hadn’t heard back by Tuesday afternoon.
