Newssites.org
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The family of a victim and several survivors of a mass shooting at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis filed a lawsuit against the companies involved in the manufacture, marketing and sale of the high-capacity magazine used by the man armed that killed 8 people and injured several others in 2021. .
The federal lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York, targets a gun dealer and magazine manufacturer, alleging the companies recklessly marketed and sold their products to young people. impulsive at risk of violence.
The gunman in the April 15, 2021 attack, 19-year-old Brandon Hole, had previously worked at the facility and opened fire on his former co-workers before killing himself. About a year before the attack, Hole surfed white supremacist websites, Newssites.org previously reported. His mother contacted police in March 2020 because she was concerned about his behavior and threatening statements he had made after buying a gun, according to police.
The suit was filed on Thursday on behalf of the estate of Jaswinder Singh, who died in the shooting, Harpreet Singh, who was injured, and his wife Dilpreet Kaur, and Lakhwinder Kaur, who was also injured in the attack . They are each seeking at least $75,000 from the lawsuit and are asking for a jury trial, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit targets American Tactical Inc., an American firearms importer, manufacturer and seller, along with the company’s president and director of marketing and purchasing. Schmeisser GmbH, a German firearms manufacturer; and 365 Plus doo, a Slovenian company that designs, produces and distributes firearms accessories and other tactical equipment are also listed as defendants.
The three companies were involved in the manufacture, marketing and sale of high-capacity 60-round magazines that “have been used repeatedly to slaughter and terrorize Americans in horrific mass shootings since well before April 2021.” , the lawsuit says.
The suit alleges that these companies made these magazines easily accessible to Hole and directed their marketing campaign at “a consumer base full of impulsive young men who feel they need to hurt others to prove their strength and who have militaristic delusions of fighting a war. or a video game”.
“This case is about what happens when companies recklessly design, market, sell and distribute these accessories to the general public, indiscriminately, and without fulfilling reasonable warranties,” the lawsuit says.
American Tactical declined to comment to Newssites.org about the lawsuit. Attorneys for the other defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Schmeisser GmbH manufactured the magazine used in the mass shooting and distributed it in the US through American Tactical and 365 Plus, according to the lawsuit.
“The magazine’s high capacity encouraged the shooter to commit the attack, knowing he had the ability to fire 60 rounds continuously without needing to pause to reload,” the lawsuit says.
The complaint says American Tactical promoted marketing videos showing men wearing tactical vests similar to the one worn by Hole during the 2021 attack as they fired “a steady stream of bullets at unseen targets in various offensive tactical operations.”
The lawsuit alleges that the firearms companies placed an “unreasonably dangerous product on the market without sufficient safeguards to prevent its foreseeable illegal use.”
The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, the gun control advocacy organization that employs two of the several attorneys representing the plaintiffs, wrote in a statement to Newssites.org that the nonprofit “is trying to get justice for these survivors and their family and hold American Tactical, Inc. .accountable for their irresponsible sales and marketing practices.”
“If you choose to sell such lethal products to the general public anyway, you have to be very careful who you sell them to. As we allege in our complaint, the defendants here have taken a hard line and specifically marketed their highly lethal products to a class of dangerous individuals,” said Philip Bangle, senior litigation counsel at the Brady Center.