Relatives of the victims killed in the 2021 shooting at a King Soopers supermarket in Boulder, Colo., are suing the gunmaker for its alleged marketing practices.

Last week marked the two-year anniversary of the shooting, in which Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, then 23, let bullets fly from a Ruger AR-556 he had bought legally, killing 10 people. Firing inside and outside the store, he shot customers, workers and a cop who tried to stop him.

FILE - Pictures of the 10 victims of a mass shooting in a King Soopers grocery store are posted on a cement barrier outside the supermarket in Boulder, Colo., on April 23, 2021.

FILE – Pictures of the 10 victims of a mass shooting in a King Soopers grocery store are posted on a cement barrier outside the supermarket in Boulder, Colo., on April 23, 2021. (David Zalubowski/AP)

Alissa has schizophrenia and was ruled unfit to stand trial. He was charged with murder and multiple counts of attempted murder.

Relatives of five of the 10 people who were killed served the company last Thursday. The suit is expected to be filed in Superior Court in Stamford, Conn. It adds to a lawsuit filed March 14 by the son of a sixth victim, and the cases will likely be combined, said Andrew Garza, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.

FILE - Tributes hang on the temporary fence surrounding the parking lot in front of a King Soopers grocery store in which 10 people died in a late March 2021 mass shooting, April 9, 2021, in Boulder, Colo.

FILE – Tributes hang on the temporary fence surrounding the parking lot in front of a King Soopers grocery store in which 10 people died in a late March 2021 mass shooting, April 9, 2021, in Boulder, Colo. (David Zalubowski/AP)

The lawsuits allege that Fairfield, Conn.-based Sturm, Ruger & Co. marketed the rifle-like pistol in a “reckless” and “immoral” way that encouraged lone gunmen and emphasized its ability to kill. The company did not comment on Monday.

This legal playbook has been used before. Relatives of those killed in the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in which 20 children and six educators were gunned down, successfully sued Remington last year. They won a $73 million settlement.

“We’re interested in pursuing justice for all the families and holding Ruger accountable,” Garza said Monday.

With News Wire Services

Source link

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR