The prevalence of shootings and other violent acts in America has led to countless injuries and harm to innocent victims and their families. If you or someone you know has been injured in an accidental shooting, it’s important to understand that you have rights and that there are legal avenues for you to pursue compensation. At Charles Boyk Law, our Toledo Gun Victim Injury Lawyers work hard to ensure victims’ rights are protected and have achieved justice for many victims and their families.
Those who have been harmed in shootings know they can trust Charles Boyk Law Offices based on our 40 + years of experience and proven track record of success. Our team is dedicated to advocating for the rights of shooting victims by guiding them through the civil justice system, which allows victims and their families to seek financial compensation for the harm they suffered.
How Common are Accidental/Unintentional Shootings?
Unfortunately, accidental shootings or shootings involving innocent bystanders happen all over the country. In a public health study, on children and adolescents specifically, the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) from 49 states identified 1,262 unintentional firearm injury deaths among children aged 0–17 years.
More generally, it’s estimated that there are approximately 27,000 unintentional firearm injuries and 500 unintentional firearm deaths per year in the United States. Reports have also shown that the U.S. unintentional firearm death rate is 4x higher than that of other high-income countries. CDC, 2020
These unfortunate incidents of gun violence and other mass shootings negatively impact communities as a whole. The consequences become challenging for many individuals to handle, such as law enforcement officers/first responders, dispatchers, public safety officials, school districts, businesses, and the religious organizations that are impacted by gun violence. While the criminal justice system offers one process for holding the responsible party accountable, our team of legal experts at Charles Boyk Law are dedicated to helping victims navigate the civil justice system in their pursuit of justice.
The Shooting Victim Injury Lawyers at Charles Boyk Law Office in Toledo have proven success in these types of cases. Not only is our dedicated team skilled in the practice area/relevant laws, but we have also hire trained and experienced experts to work as expert witnesses and consultants on your cases. We have experience with insurance companies and successfully recovering damages for wrongful death and injury cases. We will evaluate your claim and research the relevant statute of limitations applicable to your case. Whether it is to review medical bills, insurance issues, medical malpractice laws, the standard of care, and other medical negligence of hospitals, construction, or premises claims, we work to locate and utilize the best medical experts and expert witnesses across the country who are experienced in all the relevant state laws.
Our legal team are committed to these cases because we understand the need for and importance of helping victims work through this challenging time and explore their legal options that didn’t know they had.
I was Injured in an Accidental Shooting; Can I file a Lawsuit?
These tragic incidents are especially unique because those who are harmed are innocent victims, often just caught at the wrong place at the wrong time. But even when accidental, shootings and other violent acts can cost someone their life. Our group of shooting victim attorneys are experienced in this area of law and have been successful in bringing claims against the individuals/entities whose negligence caused the shooting and our clients’ injuries.
Our lawyers focus on the victim’s right to file a lawsuit against property owner and shooter for their negligence that allowed/caused the gun violence to occur. By focusing on the property owner/shooter’s negligent actions or their failure to act, our shooting victim lawyers have found opportunities to bring justice to countless shooting victims and their families. If you, or someone you know, has been injured in a shooting, it’s important that you find a team of legal experts who are familiar with finding and know how to access these different avenues of recovery.
However, we understand that there’s no amount of money that can bring back the life of a loved or even truly compensate for the harm caused by gun violence. But our team also understands that victims and their families often feel that the criminal justice system doesn’t provide the justice they’re seeking. That’s why it’s important for victims to find an experienced legal advocate who can explain their legal rights and explore the other ways that the legal system can be used to find justice for victims and their loved ones. Contact one of our Toledo shooting victim attorneys today for a free case review and evaluation, so we can work to ensure that your rights are protected and that your claim is brought within the required timeframe.
How Charles Boyk Law Finds Insurance Coverage to Secure Compensation for Shooting Victims
Our shooting attorneys at Charles Boyk Law in Tulsa understand how the devasting harm caused by acts of gun violence effects families, so our job is to explore all potential legal channels and exhaust all options in pursuing in your claim. In our experience, this often includes making claims against the homeowners, renters, or commercial insurance carriers that insure the property where the shooting occurred. These claims are brought prior to litigation or before filing a lawsuit.
Our skilled attorneys have successfully resolved claims against homeowners/renters and commercial insurance companies and secured compensation for the victim without filing a lawsuit on numerous occasions. These cases typically involve fact-patterns where a gunowner negligently stored their firearm or mishandled the firearm, leading to them unintentionally discharging the gun and injuring our victim. It’s missteps like these that can lead to someone suffering catastrophic injuries or even losing their life. Luckily, with our firm’s decades of experience in fighting these legal battles, our team of legal experts know how to simplify things for the client so they can focus on their own well-being in addition to their families.
At Charles Boyk Law, we will handle your case with compassion, sensitivity, and will work vigorously to see that justice is served. Charles Boyk Law’s shooting victim lawyers are experienced in these types of injury or wrongful death cases. If you or a family member has been impacted by a wrongful death or injured due to an act of gun violence, contact our office for a free consultation to discuss your rights and legal options. There’s no out-of-pocket expense to you and you’ll pay no attorney fees until there’s a recovery at the end of the case.
Our Attorneys at Charles Boyk Law Know How to Secure Justice for Victims of Accidental Shootings and Other Acts of Violence
Victim Injury Lawyer, Charles Boyk, has handled many cases involving innocent victims who were injured as a result of accidental shootings or due to acts of gun violence between other individuals. In 2009, a client of ours was involved in an accidental shooting while he was out deer hunting with his family. During which, the client was shot in his left foot/ankle area at close range after a family member stumbled and accidently discharge the 20-gauge semi-automatic shotgun they were carrying. The client was immediately transported to the hospital where he underwent emergency surgery and was admitted for several days. Following his initial hospitalization, the client required numerous surgeries and extensive therapy due to his injuries. While he was fortunate in not losing his life, the client was still only in his mid-twenties with two young children at the time when he was told that he’d never be able to return to work again. Though no amount of money can truly make up for the pain and suffering the client continues to endure, Attorney Chuck Boyk and his legal team were able to secure the $350,000 policy limits from the shooter’s home insurance company.
In another case, Charles Boyk Law was retained to pursue a wrongful death claim for a client who lost his life due to an accident involving a shooting while he was hanging out at a friend’s house. The client was a young father of three, enjoying a night of drinking with his buddies at the home of one of their parents. After drinking, a few of the friends decided to play Russian Roulette with a partially loaded firearm. This game of chance involves placing a firearm that’s loaded with a single round against the head of the players and pulling the trigger. While our client didn’t partake in the game, he was fatally shot in the head after a friend mishandled the firearm. Our skilled shooting victim attorneys presented the claim against the property owner’s homeowner insurance and were able to prove that the firearm was mishandled and that the shooting was unintentional. After a drawn-out coverage investigation and fight with the homeowner’s insurance company, our attorneys were ultimately able to secure the $350,000 policy limits. The insurance settlement proceeds were divided among the victim’s three children.
Charles Boyk Law’s Shooting Victim Injury Lawyers are currently assisting two other clients who were inside of their own homes when their neighbors accidentally discharged their firearms during two separate incidents. The first client with her two-year-old son and was visiting a family member at the family member’s home. While sitting on the couch, the client suddenly heard a loud explosion and saw dust and debris scatter throughout the room. After instinctively reaching down for her son, she noticed that her foot was bleeding. Soon thereafter, the client and her family member realized that a bullet had come through the exterior wall of the home and struck the client’s foot—just missing her two-year-old son who was sitting on the floor next to the foot that was injured. Our shooting victim attorneys were contacted and immediately contacted local law enforcement to request all evidence related to this incident and to ensure that it was preserved. After the police investigated the scene, it was discovered that the family member’s next-door neighbor had inadvertently discharged a firearm inside of their own home. This discharge from within the home led to a bullet being shot through the neighbor’s exterior wall and into the home in which our client was visiting. This left our client with broken bones in her foot and caused her to seek psychological treatment for the trauma related to the incident.
In a separate incident, a client was sleeping inside of his apartment, with his back facing the neighboring wall. Unbeknownst to the client and while he was sleeping, his next-door neighbor was incorrectly cleaning his loaded firearm when the gun accidentally discharged, which led to a 9mm bullet traveling through the shared wall and into the client’s apartment. The client suffered a gunshot wound in his lower back—dangerously close to his spinal cord. He was taken to the emergency room and his doctors decided it’d be best if they left the bullet inside of him based on its positioning. They believed removing the embedded bullet would do more harm than having it remain inside of his body. To this day, the client is still walking around with that bullet inside of him, and it’s caused him immense pain around the entrance wound that radiates down his back into his legs. The client found our office and victim injury lawyer, Chuck Boyk, immediately contacted the shooter’s defense attorney who revealed he had renters’ insurance that would cover this accidental shooting incident.
Why Would a Property Owner be Liable for a Shooting? | Understanding the role between Premises Liability and Insurance Coverage
In cases where a shooting occurred at a business or on someone’s property, it’s possible for the business owner or landowner to be held legally liable under premises liability or tort law. For example, if it’s proven that the business owner/landowner failed to provide adequate security measures or were negligent by failing to take any preventative measures against harm that was foreseeable, then the shooting victim could take legal action against them by filing an insurance claim or even by filing a lawsuit.
At Charles Boyk Law, our trained legal professionals have pursued actions against numerous businesses for injuries that resulted due to accidental shootings. This includes legal actions against shooting ranges. While visiting a local park, we had a client who was suddenly shot in his back shoulder area. After investigating the incident, it turned out that this park was extremely close to an outdoor shooting range and the client was shot by a stray bullet from someone who was at the shooting range and shooting in the client’s direction. Our Tulsa gunshot injury lawyers conducted a thorough investigation to prove that the shooting range patron unintentionally fired his weapon in our client’s direction, so we pursued claims against both the patron’s homeowner’s insurance and the shooting range’s commercial premises insurance. Between both insurance companies, our injury lawyers ensured that the client’s medical expenses were paid and that he was compensated for his injuries.
One of the advantages in having an experienced victim injury attorney is that our team understands the trauma that remains after being injured in a shooting. Our shooting victim injury attorneys work tirelessly to find some source of recovery, so victims and their families can receive compensation for the pain and expenses they’ve endured. Often, that involves our team thinking outside the box to find insurance policy or assets that can be used to compensate our clients. This creative thinking requires someone who’s familiar and knowledgeable of the necessary legal arguments that need to be made to unlock/access these sources. At Charles Boyk Law, we’ve been thinking outside the box for the last 40+ years to get our clients the justice they deserve. We’re committed to helping our clients and their families not only process this challenging time, but we’re also committed to getting our clients the maximum amount of compensation available. Please contact our Shooting Injury Attorneys today at 419-241-1395 to set up a free consultation to discuss your situation.
Our Experienced Toledo Gun Victim Attorneys Are Committed to Providing Justice for Victims & their Families
With an increasing number of gunshot injuries and the devasting effects they bring, many victims and their families are looking for justice in ways that are beyond what the criminal justice system can provide. If you or a loved one has been injured due to an accidental shooting, it’s important that you’re informed and understand these legal avenues so you can obtain justice and financial compensation.
Our shooting victim attorneys are highly skilled professionals and have experience with insurance companies. We’ve successfully recovered damages in both wrongful death and injury cases. After hiring our office, our team will be here every step of the way to ensure that your concerns are heard, that you’re able to focus on your recovery, and guarantee that you have dedicated attorneys behind you to fight your legal battle. Contact our office today to discuss your legal options with a Toledo gun victim injury lawyer.
