Suge Knight sues Chris Brown over nightclub shooting
Death Row Records co-founder Marion 'Suge' Knight is suing Chris Brown, singer Pia Mia Perez and the owners of the 1 Oak nightclub where he was shot seven times at a party in 2014, according to legal documents obtained by Mashable.
In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday, Knight accuses Brown and the nightclub of failing to have adequate security and preventing people from bringing firearms into the property.
He survived gunshot wounds to the abdomen, chest and left forearm after the attack, and has cited complications from those injuries -- including a blood clot -- in court appearances on an unrelated murder charge.
You May Also Like
“While present on subject premises as an invited guest, Plaintiff [Knight] was shot multiple times in his abdomen, chest and left forearm causing him to suffer serious injuries,” the suit reads.
“Defendant Brown was a known gang associate with a history of violence and had a well-documented track record of hosting events and or parties in which violence frequently erupted,” it adds.
"Defendant Brown was a known gang associate with a history of violence."
“Chris Brown and Pia Mia Perez had a personal obligation to ensure security was adequate and that all attending the event were screened for and not carrying weapons and firearms.”
"As a result of the negligence of the defendants, one or more unknown individuals were allowed access to the event with weapons, including firearms. As a foreseeable result, gunshots were fired by those admitted into the event and [Knight] was shot and seriously injured."
Knight's attorneys say his fear months after the shooting led him to flee when he was attacked in his car, running down two men and killing one, the Associated Press reports. He is seeking payment from the defendants for past and future medical expenses.
Brown has not been implicated in the August 2014 shooting and no arrests have been made. Knight, meanwhile, is currently in jail awaiting trial. He was charged in two separate cases soon after the 2014 shooting.
In one of them, Knight was accused, along with comedian Katt Williams, of stealing a celebrity photographer's camera in Beverly Hills days after the shooting. Both men have pleaded not guilty to robbery charges.
Brown has not been implicated in the August 2014 shooting and no arrests have been made.
A few months later, he was charged with running over two men with his pickup truck outside of a Compton burger stand, killing one and seriously injuring the other. Knight's attorneys have said he was fleeing armed attackers in the January 2015 collision.
They say Knight was acting in self-defense when he struck Cle "Bone" Sloan, who was punching Knight through the window of his pickup truck, and also hit Terry Carter, who died from his injuries.
Attorneys J. Tooson and Jeremy Lessem linked Knight's injuries from the nightclub shooting to the Compton incident, saying he was afraid for his life and still recovering.
"Mr. Knight was still extremely frail from his gunshot injuries less than five months earlier," Tooson wrote in a statement. "When the facts are finally revealed in this case, we're certain it will be apparent that our client was simply trying to flee for his life."
The Associated Press contributed reporting.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
Tim Chester was Senior Editor, Real Time News in Los Angeles. Before that he was Deputy Editor of Mashable UK in London. Prior to joining Mashable, Tim was a Senior Web Editor at Penguin Random House, helping to relaunch the Rough Guides website and other travel brands. He was also a writer for Buzzfeed, GQ and The Sunday Times, covering everything from culture to tech and current affairs. Before that, he was Deputy Editor at NME.COM, overseeing content and development on the London-based music and entertainment site. Tim loves music and travel and has combined these two passions at festivals from Iceland to Malawi and beyond.
