Students stand outside Oxford High School, near memorials placed after the Michigan school shooting in November 2021.
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Students stand outside Oxford High School, near memorabilia placed after the November 2021 shooting that took place at the Michigan school.
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The parents of a teenager injured in the mass shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan last year are suing the dealer who sold the handgun used for killed four students and wounded seven others.
The Oxford Community School District and school officials are also listed in lawsuit. Mary and Matthew Mueller, the parents of the injured child, say the school district and its staff have failed to address serious concerns about the shooter, Ethan Crumbley. More than a dozen students have filed a similar federal lawsuit against the school district and certain employees of the high school.
This new lawsuit, filed by the Mueller family, seeks damages and remedies from the school district, its employees, and Acme Shooting Goods, LLC. They say their son, referred to as the sole “EM” in the lawsuit, suffered a gunshot wound to his hand and face, causing serious injury and lasting damage.
This is the first federal lawsuit filed in connection with the Oxford High School shooting to bring special claims against Acme Shooting Goods, the arms dealer.
“While we will live with the horror of that day forever, he will live with the physical pain and trauma of being shot for the rest of his life. That pain is avoidable. “, Matthew and Mary Mueller said in a statement. “We bring this kit so that the failures in the sale of this gun and at our school that allowed this to happen may never happen again. No family or community. need to go through this pain and no child has to live with it the rest of their lives.”
The Oxford and Acme Community School District did not immediately respond to NPR’s request for comment.
Lawsuits against gun manufacturers and dealers are difficult to pursue thanks to federal law that provides broad legal immunity to many players in the firearms industry. It protects them from liability for a wide range of claims at the federal and state levels, according to Giffords, a gun control advocacy organization.
Either way, this hasn’t stopped shooting victims’ families and gun control groups from suing gun makers and dealers. The Brady gun control group, whose legal arm is behind the Mueller case, along with the law firm Sommers Schwartz, have lawsuits in 40 states according to senior advisor Erin Davis.
Several Connecticut families who lost their children in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School have successfully sued gun manufacturer Remington. This year, Remington’s Four Insurance Companies agreed to pay $73 million as a result of the lawsuit. That case alleges that the gun manufacturer marketed the gun in a way that violated state consumer laws and prioritized profits over public safety.
At least one parent whose child died in the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, has start the process sues gun manufacturer Daniel Defense, which makes the AR-15-style rifles used in the massacre.
Jennifer and James Crumbley, the parents of Ethan Crumbley, the teenager who killed four students in the Oxford High School shooting, appear in court on February 8.
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Jennifer and James Crumbley, the parents of Ethan Crumbley, the teenager who killed four students in the Oxford High School shooting, appear in court on February 8.
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Davis told NPR that she believes Brady has built up “a solid case team” in other legal battles that make this case highly likely to succeed.
The Mueller family’s lawsuit alleges negligence by both the school district and Acme. It states that the dealer sold the gun to Crumbley’s father “despite the factual and/or constructive knowledge that the father was engaged in an illegal straw purchase… and the gun Acme is for shooters.”
A straw purchase is when an individual purchases a gun on behalf of another while falsely claiming that the purchase was for themselves. According to the lawsuit, both Crumbley and his father made comments in Acme’s store that the gun was actually intended for the then 15-year-old boy. The clerk sold the gun to the father anyway.
Crumbley’s parents were criminally charged on November 30, 2021, attack. Crumbley was charged with murder and other crimes, and he plans to pursue a crazy defense at trial. His parents – James and Jennifer Crumbley – both have plead not guilty up to four counts of involuntary manslaughter.
