Families of slain guards sue security company, Travis Baumgartner

The families of slain G4S armoured car guards Edgardo (Eddie) Rejano and Brian Ilesic have launched lawsuits against the security company and the man who killed them, Travis Baumgartner.

Last September, Baumgartner was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 40 years for shooting and killing Rejano, Ilesic and Michelle Shegelski and injuring a fourth during a robbery at the University of Alberta campus in June 2012.

Baumgartner was an employee of G4S and had a string of money problems leading up to the shooting.

In statements of claim filed in Edmonton Court of Queens Bench on June 9, both families allege negligence of G4S for wholly or partially causing Rejano and Ilesics deaths.

The Rejano family is suing for $1.7 million in damages, while the Illesics want$578,000.

Both families claim the company failed to properly train Baumgartner and ensure he was psychologically fit to handle cash and loaded firearms.

Both statements of claim also say G4S should have known, or was wilfully blind, in knowing that Baumgartner was capable of carrying out a theft, robbery and wrongful death on a cash route.

The allegations in both statements of claim have not yet been proven in court.