A woman who was one of three people wounded in a shooting at the State Fair of Texas last year is suing the suspected gunman and two companies involved in the fair’s security, alleging negligence during the assault.
Andrea Liliana Araujo and her husband, Pedro Ortega, said in a Dallas County lawsuit filed Tuesday that the gunman who opened fire Oct. 14 at Fair Park passed directly through a security screening checkpoint with a semi-automatic pistol in his hoodie, according to their attorney. Araujo, 41, was working with a cleaning crew at the fair when she was shot.
The lawsuit alleges that Andy Frain Services — a security guard service — had no video surveillance at the entry point and may have failed to stop the gunman when they knew he had a weapon. It says GXC, Inc. — which supplies weapon detection systems — may have failed to detect the gun and alert personnel.
The couple is seeking over $1 million. Their attorney, Marc C. Lenahan, said Andy Frain asks people to trust the company’s ability to protect them “at everything from professional sports events to when we board our flights.” GXC, he said, “states that their equipment protects us from handguns to assault weapons to explosive devices.”
Lenahan provided a copy of the lawsuit, which hadn’t yet been stamped by the clerk’s office. The clerk’s office did not immediately respond to an inquiry Wednesday confirming the lawsuit was filed. The office was closed for the Juneteenth holiday.
“One or both of these companies utterly failed,” Lenahan told The Dallas Morning News in an email. “Until we know, nobody can really feel safe anywhere that our safety depends on them.”
Spokespeople for Andy Frain and GXC, Inc. did not respond to emailed requests for comment Tuesday afternoon.
Cameron Turner, 23, is charged in the shooting with three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and one count of unlawful carrying of a weapon in prohibited places. Police said in an arrest-warrant affidavit that surveillance footage shows one victim approached Turner as he turned around at a concession stand.
The two exchanged words, then Turner pulled out a gun and opened fire, according to the affidavit. Turner told police he “went into survival mode” and felt threatened by the person who approached him, the affidavit said. He remained Tuesday in the Dallas County jail with bail set at $1.6 million. The News called and emailed his attorney Michael Todd, but he could not be reached for comment.
Originally from Apure, Venezuela, Araujo has told The News she was struck in the right arm and right side of her back, and bullet fragments hit her arm and both calves. The two other victims have not been publicly identified.
Araujo has said she fell and screamed for help after the gunfire erupted, but no one could understand her Spanish. She recalled two women saw her bleeding under benches and called police for help.
Ortega, 39, was in a different area of the fair and has said his friend told him to run to the food court when the gunfire erupted. Araujo was gone — she had been taken to a hospital — by the time he got there.
“I was so afraid,” he told The News in October. “I wanted to see her.”
The shooting caused hundreds to evacuate and spurred concerns about safety at the State Fair, which hadn’t seen a shooting since 1988. Instead of metal detectors, fair visitors walk through what is known as an “open gate system,” which detects dense metal like knives or guns. The State Fair’s website at the time stated no weapons were allowed, but also said the fair has long allowed attendees “with valid handgun licenses to carry their handguns in a concealed manner.” The handgun sentence has since been removed.
The lawsuit said it’s unclear whether Andy Frain’s security personnel failed to stop the shooter from entering or if GXC’s equipment failed, but states those facts could be discerned through court. Both companies, the lawsuit alleges, were negligent in their hiring and supervision and failed to enforce appropriate policies and procedures.
Dallas police and fair officials have said they were investigating how Turner brought in the gun.
Araujo and Ortega suffered emotional distress because of the shooting, according to the lawsuit. The bullets are still in Araujo because the surgeon hasn’t been able to safely remove them, the lawsuit added, noting she has “a lifetime of pain” and “a permanently impaired body.”
“She was keeping the State Fair clean for the rest of us,” the lawsuit said. “When the bullets hit her in the back, she fell to the floor, dropped her broom, and prayed that she wouldn’t die before getting to say goodbye to her husband.”