INGLEWOOD — The family of an administrator at an aeronautics and aviation training school who was fatally shot by a campus security guard has announced a wrongful death lawsuit against the college.
The family of Cameisha Clark alleges Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology was negligent in the employment of Jesse Figueroa — a felon — as a security guard.
“How does a six-time felon get hired as your security guard?” family attorney Chris Stewart said during a news conference Aug. 20 announcing the lawsuit. “How do you hire someone who has an expired security license of over a decade to be your on-campus security. And more importantly, who does Mr. Figueroa work for? Spartan College is denying that he worked for them.”
Representatives for Spartan College did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The shooting occurred about 3:45 p.m. May 2 inside an office on the college campus in the 8900 block of Aviation Boulevard, between Arbor Vitae Street and Hillcrest Boulevard, authorities said. Figueroa is accused of fatally shooting Clark, 37, who had recently been promoted to dean of students, and wounding her assistant, a 35-year-old woman.
Inglewood Mayor James Butts told reporters after the shooting that Clark was the shooter’s primary target, calling it a case of workplace violence, although he did not elaborate.
Figueroa, 40, of Monterey Park, was arrested and charged with the murder, attempted murder and possession of a firearm with a prior violent conviction and being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to court records. His case remains pending and he remains jailed in lieu of $5 million bail.
The complaint names Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology, Spartan Education Group LLC, Good Guard Security Inc., American Guard Services, Figueroa and others.
The complaint alleges that neither the security company nor Spartan College conducted even the most basic of background checks that would have easily identified Figueroa’s extensive criminal history that included multiple counts of robbery stemming from a case in 2007. Figueroa’s security guard license had expired nearly 14 years earlier, but that also wasn’t checked or flagged by the security company or Spartan College, the suit contends.
