The family of Stanley Brucker, a 61-year-old crossing guard who died in March after being struck by a vehicle near Fort Mill schools, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Fort Mill School District. The lawsuit, filed on October 18 in York County civil court, comes just days after another crossing guard was injured in a separate incident on October 15 at a different Fort Mill school.
Brucker died on March 21 while stationed on Springfield Parkway near Fort Mill Middle and Elementary Schools. He was employed by Cross Safe, a contractor hired by the district. The lawsuit alleges the school district failed to recognize the road as unsafe for crossing guard duties, placing Brucker at an “unreasonably dangerous” location. The suit, filed by attorneys J. Rutledge Young III and Hunter L. Windham of Duffy and Young, LLC out of Charleston, SC, also names the driver involved and seeks actual and punitive damages.
No charges were filed against the driver, as video footage from a school bus showed Brucker stepped into the northbound lane when the collision occurred. Speed was not a factor.
The lawsuit highlights a troubling trend, noting that at least four crossing guards have been hit in Fort Mill in the past six years. In the latest incident on October 15, a crossing guard was injured after two vehicles collided on Fort Mill Parkway near Catawba Ridge High School.
A copy of the lawsuit is available here.
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