Zombicon promoter, victims fight insurance company lawsuit

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FORT MYERS, Fla. — Attorneys for the nonprofit organization behind Zombicon and the victims of the deadly shooting at the 2015 downtown zombie-themed event began making their case Tuesday against a lawsuit filed by an insurance company seeking to remove its liability.

Scottsdale Insurance Company filed a federal suit in August claiming that they’re covered by an assault and battery exclusion in their contract with Pushing DaiZies, the promoter that staged the event on Oct. 17, 2015.

The company claims that whoever pulled the trigger did so intentionally, thus invoking the contract exclusion that would prevent Scottsdale from having to shell out any money.

Lawyers for Pushing Daizies and the victims, all of whom are named as defendants in the suit, argued in a pretrial conference Tuesday that it remains unproven that either an assault or battery took place. The bullets could have been accidentally discharged, the lawyers claim, suggesting that no one really knows what happened that night and that the burden is on Scottsdale to prove an assault or battery took place.

No arrests have been made for the shooting that killed a 20-year-old Okeechobee man and injured five others.

Several court dates were set Tuesday, including the final pretrial conference, which was scheduled for Oct. 27, 2017. The trial won’t formally begin until November 2017 at the earliest.

The lawsuit is one of several connected to the shooting, including wrongful death cases filed by the victims against Pushing DaiZies and a security firm, and legal action against the City of Fort Myers.

 

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