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.