Parents of a teenager who was injured in the massacre at Oxford High School, Michigan last year are now suing the dealer who sold them the handgun that was used to kill four students and injure seven more.
In the lawsuit, school officials and the Oxford Community School District are also named. Mary and Matthew Mueller, parents of the child who was injured, claim that the school district and its staff failed to address serious concerns regarding Ethan Crumbley, the shooter. More than a dozen high school students have filed a federal lawsuit against the school district, as well as some of its employees.
The Mueller family has filed a new lawsuit against Acme Shooting Goods, LLC, seeking damages and remedies from the school district, its staff, and Acme Shooting Goods, LLC. According to the family, their son, referred only to as “E.M.” in this lawsuit, was shot to the hand and face. This caused serious injuries and permanent damage.
This is the first federal lawsuit in connection to the shooting at Oxford High School. It specifically targets Acme Shooting Goods as the weapons dealer.
“While we will continue to live with the horrors of that day for all eternity, he will have to endure the pain and trauma of being shot for the rest his life. Matthew and Mary Mueller stated in a statement that the pain could have been avoided. We are bringing this suit to stop the school and gun sales failures that allowed this to happen from happening again. This pain should not be felt by any family or community, and children shouldn’t have to suffer it for their entire lives.
NPR reached out to Acme and the Oxford Community School District for comment, but they didn’t immediately respond.
A federal law provides broad legal immunity for many people in the firearms industry, making it difficult to bring lawsuits against gun dealers and manufacturers. According to Giffords (a gun control advocacy group), it protects them from liability for a broad range of complaints at both the state and federal levels.
Families of victims of shooting have not been stopped from suing gun-makers or dealers. According to Erin Davis, senior counsel, the gun control group Brady and the law firm Sommers Schwartz have filed cases against weapon dealers and manufacturers in 40 states over the years.
Many families from Connecticut lost their children in Sandy Hook Elementary School’s mass shooting. They successfully sued Remington. The suit resulted in Remington’s four insurance companies agreeing to pay $73 Million. The gun-maker was accused of marketing the gun in a way that violated state consumer laws and prioritised profits over safety.
One parent who lost a child in the Robb Elementary School shooting, Uvalde Texas, has begun the legal process to sue Daniel Defense, the gun-maker that produced the AR-15-style rifle used during the massacre.
Davis stated to NPR that Brady has “a strong body” of case law in other legal battles, which gives the lawsuit a strong chance of success.
The Mueller family filed suit alleging negligence on both Acme and the school district. The suit claims that Crumbley’s father sold the gun to the dealer “despite having actual and/or constructive knowledge of the father’s illicit straw purchase… and that Acme guns were intended for the shooter.”
A straw purchase occurs when someone purchases a gun for another person while falsely claiming that the purchase was their own. The lawsuit claims that Crumbley and his father made remarks in Acme’s shop suggesting the gun was intended for Crumbley, then 15. However, the sales clerk sold Crumbley the gun.
Crumbley’s parents were criminally charged in the Nov. 30, 2020, attack. Crumbley was charged with murder and other offenses and plans to use an insanity defense during trial. His parents, James Crumbley and Jennifer Crumbley, aEUR”, pleaded not guilty in the absence of evidence to four counts each of involuntary murder.
