LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - Nineteen survivors of the July 2017 shooting at Power Ultra Lounge filed a lawsuit against the club and its owner on Wednesday. The shooting during a rap concert at the Downtown Little Rock club left 28 people injured. Tasheara Slocum, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, was among those shot.
“On July 1, 2017, my life and the lives of many others was changed forever,” she said during a press conference shortly after the lawsuit was filed.
Tyrone Jackson, who said he was shot at multiple times inside the club, also spoke during the press conference.
“While I was not prepared for such a shooting to occur, Power Ultra Lounge and its owners and employees should’ve been,” Jackson said.
The lawsuit names Power Ultra Lounge, its owner Herman Ray Lewis, Sr., and other defendants, including the owner of the property where the club operated.
The complaint alleges, among other things, that the defendants were negligent in their operating of Power Ultra Lounge, and that their negligence caused injuries to the 19 plaintiffs who were inside of the club during the shooting.
“This was a foreseeable incident that could've easily been prevented had the business owners and the property owners chosen to care more,” said Josh Gillispie, one of the attorneys representing the victims.
Slocum said she hopes the lawsuit serves as a wake-up call for other business owners.
“I want this lawsuit to send a message to all businesses – both in Little Rock and Arkansas – that they should do everything possible to protect their customers from the kinds of mass shootings that happened at Power Ultra Lounge
An August 2017 lawsuit filed by one of the victims was dismissed. That victim is named as a plaintiff in the latest complaint.
Click here to view the lawsuit filed on Wednesday in its entirety.
This story has been updated.