Chris Brown hit with lawsuit over nightclub performance shooting
A concertgoer who was shot after Chris Brown's nightclub appearance in California earlier this year (15) has hit the embattled R&B star with a lawsuit, alleging the singer failed to take adequate security measures during the gig.
The Loyal hitmaker was hosting a show at the Fiesta nightclub in San Jose in January (15), when an unidentified gunman opened fire. In video footage of the incident, a shocked but uninjured Brown is rushed to safety amid the ensuing chaos.
Five people were shot and injured, including Paul Briley, who has
served Brown with the lawsuit.
In legal documents filed in Superior Court in California and
obtained by TheWrap.com, Briley claims venue bosses had a duty to
increase security, due to Brown's past violent run-ins, and states
officials should have created a safer environment which would
protect patrons "from the foreseeable risk of injury, violence,
fights, riots and/or shootings that have previously been linked to
Brown's appearances and concerts, and which were reasonably
foreseeable at the bash."
Briley claims both Brown and Fiesta chiefs "failed to implement
security procedures to search attendees for firearms" and "failed
to use metal detectors". He alleges he suffered "serious permanent
personal injuries", and is seeking unspecified damages "for all
past, present, and future physical, mental and emotional pain and
suffering, including the fright, shock, terror, and post-traumatic
stress of being shot."
The San Jose shooting was not the first time an event featuring
Brown had been disrupted by gunfire - last August (14), a party
hosted by the R&B star came crashing to an end after rap mogul
Marion 'Suge' Knight was shot. Knight survived his injuries.
Brown's name was also linked to a California nightclub stabbing in
September (14), when a man was attacked as he left the Supperclub,
shortly after the singer had performed onstage.
Meanwhile, the owner of the San Jose club, where the shooting took
place, has lost his entertainment permit and state regulators also
suspended Fiesta Nightclub's liquor license for 60 days.