survivors of mass shooting in Fourth of July Parade 11 lawsuits have been filed against Smith & Wesson for allegedly marketing youths at risk of violence – including 22-year-old shooter Robert Cremo III in a Chicago suburb.
Lawsuits were filed Wednesday by the families of those injured and killed during the Highland Park tragedy, holding the gun manufacturer accountable for their alleged connection to the shooting, which killed seven and injured 48. Were.
One of the survivors, Liz Turnipseed, said in court papers that she had just come to the parade with her 3-year-old daughter and husband when Cremo fired shots from a nearby terrace and hit her in the groin.
Her injuries required weeks of intensive care as she recovered from her injuries, which would have required her to walk with a cane for a short period of time.
She is currently in therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder and her plans to have another child have been put on hold after a delay in her embryo transfer. Since then doctors have told her that it would be dangerous to get pregnant in her condition.
Turnip was inspired to speak up when 19 students and two teachers were killed during a shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde.
“I had a unique opportunity to help put a real face on what these guns do to people and … give it a first-person perspective,” Turnipseed told the Associated Press. “Because many of us are not alive. Because they are so deadly.”
The first was news of lawsuits filed by several victims and their families. informed of by Chicago Sun-Times.
Smith & Wesson did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for comment.
Turnip’s lawsuit focused largely on the weapon used in the shooting, the Cremo – a Smith & Wesson M&P 15 semiautomatic rifle.
The suit alleges that Gun Marker must have been aware that its advertisements would attract potentially dangerous customers, “meaning that hero complexes attracted to the use of the particularly high lethality of AR-15-style weapons and / Or impulsive youth with militaristic delusions … execute their fantasies effectively,” his lawyers wrote.
Turnipseed claims that Smith & Wesson’s advertisements emphasize the M&P’s usefulness as a combat weapon, using the popular shooter’s approach in shooting and military video games.
Smith & Wesson advertised the gun as “capable of handling as many rounds as possible”. An advertisement shows an assault rifle with the phrase “Kick Brass” on a dark red background.
“The advertising and marketing strategy described above demonstrates that Smith & Wesson intentionally marketed, advertised and promoted rifles to civilians for illegal purposes, including offensive, military-style combat missions against their perceived enemies,” their attorneys said. The argument is.
Victims’ lawsuits are employing the same logic used by the families of Sandy Hook shooting victims, who $73 million settlement reached What follows is the largest payout by a gun maker related to a mass murder with gun maker Remington this February.
Turnipseed is also suing Cremo for assault and battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
She is suing the gunman’s father, Robert Cremo Jr., for negligence — specifically for sponsoring his son’s gun license application in 2019, months after the 19-year-old killed himself and threatened family members. Afterwards.
Ari Sharg, a lawyer representing Turnipseed, said he hopes to bring the matter to a jury. He has a direct connection to the shooting – he was forced to hide in a dungeon with his 7-year-old daughter when the shots fired.
Representing those killed and injured during the parade in Highland Park, Cremo faces 21 counts of first-degree murder, 48 counts of attempted murder, and 48 counts of aggravated battery.
Cremo III’s father has yet to be charged. However, the official have not denied Possibility.
post with wires