A federal appeals court has ruled that a mass shooting cannot be broken down into multiple insurance claims based on each shot fired unless the insurance policy clearly states so. This decision comes from a case tied to the tragic 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were killed.
The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the Broward County Sheriff’s Office last month, saying the entire shooting should be seen as one single event, or "occurrence," under the sheriff’s insurance policy with Evanston Insurance Company. This means the sheriff’s office only has to meet one deductible and self-insurance retention amount, rather than paying separately for each victim’s claim.
The sheriff’s office faced about 60 lawsuits from victims’ families who argued the school resource officer assigned to the school acted negligently. Evanston, a part of Markel Group, argued that each injury or death should count as a separate incident. If that were true, the sheriff’s office would have had to cover roughly $60 million out of pocket before the insurance kicked in because of the policy’s deductible and retention terms.
Lower courts agreed with the sheriff, saying the insurance policy did not clearly define what counts as separate incidents. Under Florida law, any unclear terms are interpreted in favor of the policyholder. Although Evanston appealed, the federal appeals court confirmed this view in its November ruling.
This case also clarified the meaning of “occurrence” in Florida insurance policies, a term that has been debated since a 2003 state Supreme Court decision. That earlier case involved a restaurant shooting with multiple victims and was less clear-cut. The judges pointed out that if there’s any doubt, it should benefit the insured party.
Evanston had argued that the sheriff was a "sophisticated insured" and should know the meaning of the terms, but the courts rejected this. They said that the sheriff’s knowledge or intent doesn’t matter when policy language is unclear.
On top of that, the court ordered Evanston to pay the sheriff’s legal fees. The lawsuits and shooting led Florida lawmakers in 2022 to ban one-way attorney fees in insurance dispute cases.
Representatives from Evanston and Markel did not respond to requests for comments. The sheriff’s legal team directed questions to the sheriff’s office, which did not respond.
This ruling is likely to influence how future insurance policies are written and how claims related to mass shootings are handled, especially for government entities. For now, it means the sheriff’s office in Broward County can move forward with its coverage without worrying about massive out-of-pocket costs for each victim’s claim.