Two Former Duquesne University Students Sue University Over Shooting

Channel 11 News spoke with the attorney who filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court Monday morning on behalf of Shawn James and Kojo Mensah, former basketball players with the Duquesne Dukes.

The two were injured during a shooting on the Duquesne campus in September 2006.

The lawsuit claims that the University did not adequately protect the students, and they are seeking damages for the injuries they suffered.

Both had aspirations of being chosen in the 2008 draft, so the damage claim could reach millions of dollars.

Attorney Teresa Toriseva told Channel 11 News reporter Vince Sims that the two are still dealing with the aftermath of the shooting.

She said the students are through with physical therapy and doing as well as can be expected, but that the athletes' chances to be drafted have been significantly affected

The two players are currently living and practicing in New York.

Shawn James is currently projected by several organizations that follow professional basketball as a lower second-round pick this year.

That is significantly lower than where he was before the shooting, in the middle of the first round.

Fredrick Bode, an attorney representing Duquesne University, said, "Duquesne is one of the safest universities in the country and that is documented. No one could have anticipated these criminal actions."

He said claims that the "student organization's doorman was a University representative is nonsense," and he is confident the University will win the case.