Cincinnati Specialty Underwriters said in a complaint last week that it has no duty to defend or indemnify a Kansas City sports promotion group facing an underlying lawsuit over a mass shooting at a 2024 Super Bowl parade.
CSU said the bodily injuries alleged in the underlying lawsuit are excluded by the assault and battery exclusion in a special event commercial general liability policy it issued to the Kansas City Sports Commission (KCSC).
One person was killed and more than 20 others were injured in a February 14, 2024 shooting in downtown Kansas City during a parade to celebrate the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl. Last month several victims of the shooting filed a lawsuit against KCSC, the City of Kansas City, Union Station Kansas City and other entities alleging the defendants caused the victims’ injuries as a result of negligence, carelessness, violations and failures.
Attorney Stueve Siegel Hanson said the shooting was a “preventable calamity, borne of systemic failures and negligence from the top down.”
The premises and event planning defendants failed to adequately plan security and take reasonable crowd control measures, such as those implemented for Kansas City’s hosting of previous events, the underlying lawsuit alleges. The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount in damages.
CSU said the assault/battery endorsement excludes coverage in the event of failure of any insured to prevent or suppress assault or battery or negligent employment, supervision, training.
The special event commercial general liability policy CSU issued to KCSS contained limits of insurance of $1,000,000 each occurrence, $5,000,000 general aggregate. The City of Kansas City and Union Station – the site of the shooting – were additional insureds on the policy.
Photo: FILE – Police clear the area following a shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs NFL football Super Bowl celebration in Kansas City, Mo., Feb. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann, File)
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