• Welcome to OGBoards 10.0, keep in mind that we will be making LOTS of changes to smooth out the experience here and make it as close as possible functionally to the old software, but feel free to drop suggestions or requests in the Tech Support subforum!

Shooting at the Barn

This opinion is pretty much the end of the line. Really good description of the events and history.

https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/211920.U.pdf


PER CURIAM:
This is a tragic case. Najee Ali Baker (“Baker”), a Winston-Salem State University
student, was shot and killed by Jakier Austin (“Austin”) after a party at Wake Forest
University (“Appellee”). Baker’s estate (“Appellant”) sued Appellee, claiming Appellee
was negligent in hosting the party without sufficient security.
The district court granted Appellee’s motion for summary judgment, holding that
the shooting was not foreseeable. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.
I.
A.
Appellee is a private university located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Appellee’s campus is easily accessible to the general public, and thousands of people,
including students, staff, and visitors, are on the campus every day. Despite the large
amount of traffic the campus receives on a daily basis, from the time of the founding of the
Winston-Salem campus in 1956 until January 20, 2018, when Baker was shot, there had
never been a shooting on campus.
In 2011, Appellee opened an event center on campus called the Barn.1
The Barn
was located near one of the gatehouses at the edge of campus and was accessible by a single
roadway. During the relevant time period, the Barn was available for student events.
Appellee’s chapters of National Pan-Hellenic Council (“NPHC”) fraternities and sororities
did not have dedicated event spaces on campus, so they would use the Barn for social
1 The Barn has since been renamed the University Activity Center.
4
events. These events were referred to as Barn parties, and they were also open to students
of nearby universities. In fact, the majority of attendees at Barn parties attended other
universities. Barn parties were often large events with hundreds of students in attendance.
Over time, Barn parties were the site of several incidents which required security
intervention. Most of these incidents involved fistfights and/or pushing and shoving. From
the time of the Barn’s opening in 2011 until Baker’s murder in 2018, there were only two
incidents at the Barn which required medical attention, and both occurred several years
prior to the incident involving Baker. In the first such incident, in 2012, a Barn party
attendee was beaten unconscious just outside the Barn’s entrance after Wake Forest Police
Department (“WFPD”) officers halted the Barn party. In the second incident, in 2013, a
woman was trampled in a crowd rush caused by people fleeing the scene of an altercation
after a Barn party. The victim of the crowd rush was interviewed by a WFPD officer. In
that interview, the victim claimed that a man had suffered a “gashed head” and had a “gun
pulled on him” at the party. J.A. 5712
B.
Security for events at the Barn evolved over time. Initially, WFPD officers provided
security for Barn events. Generally, events would have up to 16 police officers posted both
inside and outside the Barn. However, the police presence created tension with Appellee’s
students, who did not want to be so heavily policed.
2 Citations to the “J.A.” refer to the Joint Appendix filed by the parties in this appeal.
5
In 2014, Appellee hired Dr. Adam Goldstein (“Dr. Goldstein”) as the Dean of
Students. One of Dr. Goldstein’s mandates was to formulate a more effective security plan
for Barn events. He worked collaboratively with student organizations, the WFPD, and
other campus stakeholders to develop the new security plan, which was referred to as the
Dean of Students plan (the “DOS plan”). The DOS plan, which was implemented in 2015,
transferred most of the event management duties from the WFPD to student employees
called Event Resource Managers (“ERMs”). The DOS plan also reduced the police
presence at Barn parties from 16 officers in and around the Barn to zero officers inside the
Barn and one officer stationed outside, with others nearby if assistance was necessary.
Appellee hired a private security company, Rhino Sports & Entertainment Services
(“Rhino”), to assume WFPD’s security duties. Unlike the WFPD, Rhino was “hands off”
-- meaning the Rhino security officers were not allowed to physically intervene to stop
fights. Because the entrance to the Barn had been a point of conflict in previous years, the
DOS plan also instituted digital ticketing for events in order to reduce the waiting time to
enter the Barn.
In the period between the Barn’s opening in 2011 and the implementation of the
DOS plan in 2015, five violent incidents occurred in the vicinity of the Barn. Between the
implementation of the DOS plan in 2015 and the shooting of Baker in 2018, three violent
incidents occurred. Further, as noted, the two incidents which were severe enough to
warrant medical attention occurred before the implementation of the DOS plan.
6
C.
On the evening of January 19, 2018, NPHC sorority Delta Sigma Theta hosted a
party in the Barn. Baker, a student at nearby Winston-Salem State University, attended.
Non-students Austin and two of his friends, Malik Smith (“Smith”) and Jadakiss Hall, also
attended. Despite no longer being a student, Austin had a valid student identification card
from Winston-Salem State University.
At some point, Baker and Smith got into a verbal altercation inside the Barn that
escalated to pushing and shoving. After the altercation, Austin’s group left the Barn. Baker
left the Barn a couple of minutes later. Lucas Wille (“Wille”), an ERM stationed near the
entrance of the Barn, heard either Baker, Austin, or one of Austin’s friends yell, “Go get
your gun.” J.A. 870. Moments later, on the roadway next to the Barn, Austin shot and
killed Baker.
D.
Appellant sued Appellee in federal district court, alleging that Appellee was
negligent in staffing and event management for Barn parties. Appellant claimed that the
history of altercations at the Barn during parties should have put Appellee on notice that it
needed stronger security. Instead, according to Appellant, Appellee weakened security by
implementing the DOS plan, which fostered an environment that allowed the shooting of
Baker to occur.
Appellee moved for summary judgment on the bases that the shooting was not
foreseeable or, alternatively, that Appellant could not demonstrate that Appellee’s actions
7
were the cause of the shooting. The district court granted Appellee’s summary judgment
motion, holding that the shooting was unforeseeable as a matter of law.
 
So there was a straight up murder at a Delta Sigma Theta party on the Wake Forest campus and they still have a charter ?
 
So there was a straight up murder at a Delta Sigma Theta party on the Wake Forest campus and they still have a charter ?

None of the Delta Sigma Theta students were involved in the altercation or shooting, right? And it wasn’t in Dekta Sigma Theta space and they were not in charge of security, right?
 
If you provided a space for a group to have a party and the people they attracted to the party killed someone on your property, would you let them have another party ?
 
Back
Top