NEED TO KNOW

• Lamar McGlothurn was killed, and four others were injured after a tree branch fell at Camp Wildcraft at King Gillette Ranch in California on July 9

• Now his parents are suing

• “Despite actual notice that the tree was dangerous and dropping branches” no one “stopped the children from going under the tree’s massive canopy,” the complaint alleged

A mother and father witnessed a tree branch fall and kill their 8-year-old son as they arrived to pick him up from a California summer camp. Now they’re suing.

Lamar McGlothurn was crushed to death when a “massive tree branch snapped off an old and decaying oak tree” at Camp Wildcraft at King Gillette Ranch in Calabasas on July 9, according to a complaint filed on Monday, Nov. 17. Four others were injured, PEOPLE previously reported.

His parents allege that the tragic incident was “not the first time a big branch fell from that tree” — and yet, the Mountains Recreation & Conservation Authority, which manages King Gillette Ranch, as well as the camp owners allegedly “directed groups of young children to play, paint and rest directly under the tree.”

“That is exactly what Lamar was doing when he was tragically killed by the falling branch,” the lawsuit read.

In a statement shared with PEOPLE, the Mountains Recreation & Conservation Authority declined to comment due to the active litigation, but said that they would review the allegations and respond appropriately.

“From day one, the MRCA has been committed to a full, thorough, and transparent inquiry, with a proposed action plan to ensure that a tragedy like this never occurs again,” their statement read. “That investigation remains open and ongoing, and the MRCA continues to cooperate fully with all parties involved.”

The family’s complaint alleges that the MCRA and the camp were aware that oak trees at the ranch had been “found to be unhealthy and problematic,” including the tree at the heart of the complaint.

“Indeed, crews at King Gillette Ranch raised concerns about the decaying tree one week before the fatal incident,” the complaint alleged, going on to cite numerous emails and texts obtained through California Public Records Act Requests and “recent reports.”

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One message included in the court documents showed that staff requested the removal of a branch that snapped from the tree on July 2, according to the complaint. The next day, the MRCA deputy chief and special events manager also allegedly shared a warning over email.

A division chief responded, allegedly writing, “Thank god that no one was seriously hurt or killed…I would not have been able to sleep at night knowing that branch was just waiting to fall.”

Per the complaint, another text message from a landscaping company expressed concern about “all the decay” and suggested staff “thin the canopy and alleviate end weight at a minimum to mitigate the risk.”

“Arboricultural industry standards, best practices and common sense call for the area surrounding a dangerous tree to be blocked off if the tree poses a threat of harming people,” the complaint alleged. “Despite actual notice that the tree was dangerous and dropping branches, no one…stopped the children from going under the tree’s massive canopy.”

Ultimately another tree branch plummeted onto a picnic table, killing Lamar and injuring the others.

“This tree branch crushed Lamar to death in front of his mom and dad,” Robert Glassman, the family’s lawyer, told CBS Los Angeles. “They were trying to lift it off of him, but because it was so heavy, they couldn’t, and they just had to sit there helplessly, watch[ing] their beautiful boy die.”

“This wasn’t some unforeseeable act of nature, it wasn’t an act of God,” he added, according to Gray News. “This was a preventable tragedy.”

The MCRA has 45 days from the date of filing to respond to the allegations, the parents’ lawyers said in a news release. “Should no response be filed, claimants will continue to seek justice for their son and move forward with filing a wrongful death lawsuit against all entities responsible for his death,” they added.

Read the original article on People