Signal 88, security guard now named in wrongful death lawsuit
The family of a man killed by a private security guard have named the company and the specific guard who shot him that day.
Attorneys for Anthony Warren’s children and his mother amended their lawsuit Tuesday to include Signal 88 Security and Robert Moses, Sr. The lawsuit claims Moses was negligent when he shot and killed Warren on New Year’s Day at the Waffle House on Vandiver Drive, and that Signal 88 “created an unreasonable risk of harm to others” in hiring him.
Moses has not yet been charged with a crime in the shooting. Two others, Matthew McMillan and Jaylon Freelon, are charged with crimes related to an incident that happened prior to Warren’s death. Police believe that during a fight with someone else, McMillan pulled out a gun, which went off and hit the other man. The security guard, who police have only referred to as R.M. in court documents, went into the store to break up the fight.
McMillan has been charged with second-degree murder, assault and armed criminal action. Freelon is accused of tampering with evidence for taking McMillan’s gun from the Waffle House and ditching it behind the store.
According to police, the security guard shot Warren when he feared for his safety from an encroaching crowd of people in the store. Warren’s family have doubted that explanation, saying Warren’s bullet wound was found in his side.
The lawsuit also names Waffle House as a defendant. It blames the restaurant for “failing to take measures to ensure that violent criminals would not bring dangerous instrumentalities, such as a loaded handgun, on to Waffle House premises.”
Moses is one of 34 licensed armed security guards in the city of Columbia. Records from the Business License Administration that ABC 17 News obtained shows that Moses was first licensed to be a guard in December 2016. He renewed that license a year later.
Signal 88 owner Doug Lane told ABC 17 News on Jan. 10 that the security guard that shot Warren was still employed by him, but not working. Lane did not return a request for comment Wednesday on the lawsuit.
