Roxborough High School
PHILADELPHIA – The School District of Philadelphia isn’t responsible for a fatal shooting at a football scrimmage in 2022, a federal judge has ruled in a lawsuit brought by the estate of a 14-year-old boy who was killed.
Philadelphia judge Mitchell Goldberg on Aug. 26 granted the district’s motion to dismiss the case of Nicolas Elizalde, whose murder has led to six arrests and two guilty pleas. Elizalde was an innocent bystander in a shooting that injured four others.
The 2024 lawsuit claimed SDP opened athletic events to the public without adequate security, safety protocols or training – a “state-created danger” theory that judges have rejected in other tragic cases, like the starvation and murder of a student in Chester County.
“The School District’s failure to hire security, create safety protocols, or provide protection did not place Nicolas in harm’s way,” Judge Goldberg wrote.
“Gun violence in Philadelphia is a very serious and widespread issue that presented a risk of danger to Nicolas, and other pedestrians, that day. But that same risk of danger, created by the third-party shooters, existed regardless of the School Districts decision to hire security or notify police.”
Nicolas played football at Roxborough High School, which held a three-team scrimmage in September 2022. It was played on a field in Gorgas Park, about two blocks from the high school, which required student-athletes to walk on public sidewalks to reach the field from the school.
Gunmen opened fire after the scrimmage as Nicolas and others walked back to Roxborough High School. The alleged target was near Nicolas when the shooters exited their vehicle and opened fire.
Past incidents of violence in the area were cited in the complaint, which alleged SDP was aware of an elevated risk of shootings at public high school athletic events. SDP is blamed for not notifying the police department that there would be a scrimmage that day.
The complaint says Nicolas was forced to take part in a scrimmage without protection and supervision. The plaintiff needed to show that the shooting was foreseeable.
“Plaintiff does not allege that the School District was aware of a specific threat against Nicolas or the intended victim,” Goldberg wrote. “Nor does Plaintiff allege that student athletes reported to the School District that they had previously encountered gun violence when walking between the locker room and athletic field.”
