Rite Aid Found Not Liable For 2018 Mass Shooting At Aberdeen Warehouse

ABERDEEN - Rite Aid is not liable for the mass shooting that occurred at its warehouse in Aberdeen, according to a ruling from the Maryland Appellate Court published on Tuesday.

The appellate court confirmed a prior decision by the Baltimore County Circuit Court to grant Rite Aid summary judgment in a lawsuit filed by workers injured during the September 2018 attack.

The court ruled that Rite Aid could not have reasonably foreseen the tragedy and therefore was not liable for the inadequate security at the warehouse. Furthermore, the court ruled that Abacus Corp., the temporary employment company that hired the shooter, was not negligent in its assessment of candidates.

The court’s ruling states, “the record reflects that Abacus conducted a reasonable inquiry into [the shooter’s] fitness as an employee that simply failed to reveal certain red flags which tend to evade most standard background checks.”

The 2018 mass shooting that shocked the Harford community:

On Sept. 20, 2018, 26-year-old Snochia Moseley, an Abacus employee assigned to work at a warehouse leased by Rite Aid, had only completed eight shifts when she started quarreling with coworkers.

After an altercation, Moseley left the warehouse and returned with a handgun, using her employee ID to reenter the facility. Once inside, she opened fire, killing three workers and injuring three others. Before police arrived on the scene, Moseley turned the gun on herself, dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

An investigation into the shooting revealed that Moseley suffered from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, frequently experiencing delusions.

The workers injured during the shooting filed the lawsuit against Rite Aid and Abacus. Although they will not be receiving settlements from Rite Aid, they will receive workers’ compensation benefits through their employer; a company contracted to unload trucks at the warehouse, Capstone Logistics.