Mother of slain Roxborough football player sues Philly school district, saying it ‘ignored the threat of gun violence’

A mother whose only child was shot and killed while leaving a football scrimmage at Roxborough High School has filed a lawsuit against the School District of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania’s high school athletic association, saying the agencies failed to adequately secure the field and protect students from the known threat of violence.

Meredith Elizalde, whose 14-year-old son Nicolas was fatally struck by a stray bullet in September 2022, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the school district on Tuesday in which she accused district officials of
“ignoring the threat of gun violence” and organizing after-school activities “without adequate security and coordination with law enforcement,” according to a statement from her law firm, Kline & Specter.

“Well before this tragedy, the School District of Philadelphia knew the hours after school are the most dangerous time of day for Philadelphia students, and that sports events like the one where Nicolas Elizalde was shot and killed are a magnet for the gun violence that is plaguing our city,” attorney Tom Kline said in a statement. “When a public school district places a 14-year-old student in the shooters’ crosshairs without security or protection, it is not just a tragedy. It is a violation of his civil rights.”

» READ MORE: Gun violence killed her only child. She’s starting over in Montana.

Elizalde also filed a lawsuit in Philadelphia court against Pennsylvania’s Interscholastic Athletic Association, the agency that oversees high school athletics in the state, accusing it of negligence and “ignoring red flag after red flag about the vulnerability of Pennsylvania student-athletes to gun violence.”

A spokesperson for the district declined to comment Tuesday. Officials with PIAA could not immediately be reached.

Nick was a freshman at Walter B. Saul High School, but because the school does not have an athletics program, he played football for Roxborough High. About 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 27, 2022, as he and his teammates left Roxborough’s field following a scrimmage, five people with guns jumped out of a car and sprayed more than 60 bullets toward the group.

At the time of the shooting, there was no security, law enforcement, or school district personnel in the area, according to Kline’s firm.

Five teens were shot, including Nick, who was struck once in the chest. His mother, who was near the field and heard the shots, ran to her son and held him as he took his last breaths. Police have said Nick was not the intended target, and five people have been charged with his death.

Elizalde, who was a teacher in Philadelphia for years before her son’s death, declined to comment Tuesday. She recently moved to Montana in pursuit of a new life and to earn a doctorate in conservation in honor of Nick.

Kline spoke on her behalf Tuesday, saying: “These lawsuits are about justice for Nick and accountability for those who put him in harm’s way.”