The Mall of America is being sued by the family of a boy thrown from a third-floor balcony in 2019. claiming that mall security failed to investigate their son's attacker thoroughly after he displayed suspicious activity there the day before the incident.
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On Tuesday in Hennepin County District, the family filed their lawsuit against the Mall and its owner, the Star Tribune reported. They noted that their son, identified in the lawsuit as L.H. and known publicly as Landen, has had his "adaptive skills, and academic performance" deteriorated from the severe injuries he suffered.
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The incident occurred on April 12, 2019, when Landon was 5.
Landen's family is accusing the Mall of being negligent, saying that they are incapable of protecting guests from threats such as his attacker, Emmanuel Aranda.
Aranda had a documented history of violent and aggressive activity at the MOA and was banned from the site twice.
"The Mall lacks any effective means to screen dangerous or banned individuals from entering the Mall," the lawsuit said. "[T]he Mall makes no systematic effort to even attempt to prevent dangerous or banned individuals from entering the Mall. The Mall does not ensure that security officers are distributed throughout the entire premises, to deter violence and quickly respond to suspicious or aggressive individuals."
The lawsuit also says that no security officers were near where the attack happened.
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The Mall is currently continuing to "work through" the legal process, it said in a statement on Wednesday. The statement also said it would "hopefully find resolution for all parties."
"From the day that this tragic event happened, our concern has been focused on Landen and his well-being," the statement said. "We are thankful for his ongoing and continued recovery. We can't imagine how traumatic this ordeal has been for Landen, his family, and friends. … Our thoughts and best wishes continue to remain with Landen and his family."
On the day of the incident, Aranda was at the Mall for more than two hours the day before the attack, the lawsuit claims. Mall surveillance video showed him between 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. During his time at the Mall, he was in the area where Landon was attacked the next day.
A mall security officer even spoke to Aranda while he stood on a balcony and looked over the railing.
"Despite concerns sufficient enough to send a security officer to speak to Aranda that day, the security officer spoke with Aranda for less than a minute," the lawsuit said. "And, despite concerns sufficient enough that the officer continued to observe Aranda for another ten to fifteen minutes, while he leaned up against the railing and observed people walking by, she never asked his name. Thus, Mall Security never checked Aranda's name against its records to discover whether Aranda had any prior incident at the Mall."
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Aranda returned to the Mall the next day, and after arriving just before 10 a.m., he tucked his jacket away near a third-floor balcony. Mall security found the jacket with his identification, but still, they did nothing.
"Instead, Mall Security allowed Aranda to again proceed to the third level and spend approximately 30 minutes loitering suspiciously there, peering over the balconies, and standing near the Rainforest Cafe," the lawsuit said. "He prowled the third floor unconstrained until he snatched [the boy] and threw him over the balcony railing."
Landen was at the Mall celebrating a "completion of a school year milestone," the lawsuit said. Instead, he was thrown from the third floor suffering severe injuries that still affect him to this day.
According to the criminal charges filed against him, Aranda was at the Mall looking to kill someone because he was upset that women had rejected his attempts to talk to them.
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Aranda is serving a 19-year prison term after pleading guilty to attempted first-degree murder. The 26-year-old is expected to be out of prison in 2031.
The lawsuit against the Mall alleges negligence on behalf of the Mall, which caused harm to the boy and emotional distress to his mother.
The family is asking for monetary damages to cover the boy's medical expenses —which have been upwards of a million dollars— future care, pain and suffering, the boy's loss of future income, and his mother's mental anguish, among other costs.