Student suing Purdue over Mackey Arena stampede during basketball ticket sales

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A student is suing Purdue University after alleging that she was injured in a stampede of people outside Mackey Arena during basketball ticket sales last year.

In a lawsuit filed last Friday in Tippecanoe County Court, Purdue student Alanna R. Nash claims that the university is responsible for injuries she reportedly suffered during a “chaotic and dangerous” scene outside the campus basketball arena.

Attorneys for Nash said that on Feb. 5, 2023, thousands of students were gathered outside Mackey Arena on John R. Wooden Drive waiting to enter a raffle for tickets to the Purdue men’s basketball student section.

The lawsuit alleges that, around 12 p.m., rumors swirled that the doors to the arena were opened and an “uncontrolled mob of people” pushed forward “violently” from all around Nash and made it impossible for her to move.

During what attorneys called a “mass push of bodies,” Nash was reportedly pushed from her right side before collapsing and fracturing multiple bones in her left foot. The incident, Nash argues, caused not only physical injury but also medical expenses and emotional distress.

The lawsuit argues that Purdue’s employees and representatives were negligent due to not providing “reasonable and adequate security” or crowd control. Furthermore, attorneys said that the university knew or should have known a “chaotic and dangerous” incident could happen.

Now, Nash’s attorneys say she “prays and demands” that a jury trial be brought against the university in order to determine how to fairly compensate her for “all her losses, damages and injuries.”

FOX59/CBS4 reached out to Purdue on Tuesday afternoon for comment on the lawsuit. However, a representative said the University has not yet been served and therefore has nothing to offer.

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