Club Q shooting victims can’t sue for wrongful death, 10th Circuit finds

The 10th Circuit reversed a lower court and dismissed the last remaining claims from survivors and victims' families of the 2022 Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs, ruling that Colorado's Premises Liability Act preempts negligence and wrongful death claims arising from the same event. The panel found the shooter, not the club's security lapses, was the predominant cause of the injuries, even while acknowledging plaintiffs' allegations that Club Q had reduced from four guards to one unlicensed, overworked guard doubling as a barback.

The court also upheld dismissal of claims against El Paso County over then-Sheriff Bill Elder's public refusal to enforce Colorado's Red Flag Law, which the county board backed by resolution. The panel found the sheriff's inaction, even paired with the county's earlier confiscation and later return of the shooter's weapons after charges were dropped, created only 'indefinite risk' rather than the 'immediate harm' needed to establish liability.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.