The wife of a man killed outside a Walmart store in Gwinnett County filed a wrongful death lawsuit earlier this week against the popular retailer and the man who shot and killed her husband, Fadil Delkic. According to the civil suit, which was filed in Gwinnett County State Court by Delkic’s wife, Bahra Delkic, Fadil was fatally shot on August 19 after a dispute with Troy Hunte, “who has since been charged with murder.”
The wife of a man killed outside a Walmart store in Gwinnett County filed a wrongful death lawsuit earlier this week against the popular retailer and the man who shot and killed her husband, Fadil Delkic. According to the civil suit, which was filed in Gwinnett County State Court by Delkic’s wife, Bahra Delkic, Fadil was fatally shot on August 19 after a dispute with Troy Hunte, “who has since been charged with murder.”
In the suit, Mrs. Delkic accuses Walmart of “not doing enough to create a safe environment in the parking lot of its store at 1550 Scenic Highway in Snellville.” She argues that if the parking lot was safer, the incident between her husband and Hunte never would have happened. But what happened, exactly?
Well, it began on the afternoon of August 19. According to reports for the Snellville police and Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office, the Delkics “encountered Hunte, 27, and his girlfriend when they visited the store.” According to reports, Hunte’s girlfriend “took issue with Fadil Delkic pulling his car too close to them in a crosswalk.”
After a small confrontation, Mr. Delkic drove away and parked elsewhere. However, Hunte and his girlfriend approached the Delkics against and “Hunte’s girlfriend reportedly slapped Delkic in the face.” That’s when Hunte shot Delkic in the chest. When commenting on the incident, District Attorney Danny Porter noted what was captured on video surveillance cameras and said:
“You can see in the video [Hunte’s girlfriend] approaches the vehicle, [Delkic] steps out of the car and pretty quickly she hits him … and then within seconds the victim is shot. You can see in the video [Hunte] was on the phone and actually reached into his pocket, pulled the gun out and shot the victim.”
This isn’t the first time Walmart has been in the center of a criminal incident. In fact, in recent years the retailer has struggled to “get a handle on crime at its stores.” According to a Bloomberg report from two years ago, “more than 200 violent crimes, including murders, rapes and attempted kidnappings, occurred that year at roughly 4,500 stores across the country.”
In response to the latest lawsuit, a Walmart spokesperson issued the following statement:
“This appears to have been an unfortunate dispute between two individuals that we had no knowledge of and no way of knowing their argument was going to escalate into violence. The safety and security of our customers and associates is always a top priority. We take this seriously and plan to defend the company against the litigation.”
Despite the statement, Mrs. Delkic’s suit holds the retailer partially responsible for her husband’s death. The suit states:
“Given the history of violence in their parking lots, and Wal-Mart’s [sic] knowledge they were not employing adequate security measures. It was foreseeable to Wal-Mart that the Plaintiff would be attacked in their parking lot and sustain serious injury or death.”
Fadil Delkic was 49-years-old at the time of the shooting and a refugee from Bosnia. Mrs. Delkic is asking for a jury trial and damages “for the full value of the life of Fadil Delkic in an amount to be determined by the evidence.”
Sources:
Widow of man shot outside Gwinnett Walmart files civil lawsuit
Shooting Victim Survived ‘Concentration Camp’ In Bosnia: Family
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