The families of the victims of the 2022 elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, have filed two lawsuits against Instagram, Activision Blizzard, Microsoft (parent company of Activision Blizzard), and gun maker Daniel Defense. The lawsuits claim that these companies cooperated in marketing dangerous weapons to teenagers, including the shooter at Uvalde.
The wrongful death lawsuits allege that Daniel Defense used Instagram and the video game “Call of Duty” to market its assault rifles to teenagers, with Meta and Microsoft facilitating this strategy through lax oversight. The lawsuits argue that these actions had disastrous consequences, resulting in one of the deadliest school shootings in history where 19 children and two teachers were killed.
The lawsuits were filed on the second anniversary of the massacre by the law firm Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder, the same firm that reached a settlement with rifle maker Remington on behalf of families of victims in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012. One lawsuit accuses Instagram of providing gun manufacturers with unsupervised access to minors, while the other lawsuit accuses Daniel Defense of deliberately targeting its ads to teenage boys.
The lawsuits claim that the Uvalde shooter played “Call of Duty” and frequented Instagram, where Daniel Defense advertised their products. The shooter became fixated on acquiring the same gun he saw in the game and on social media, despite never having fired a real gun before.
According to the families’ attorney, Josh Koskoff, there is a direct link between the actions of these companies and the Uvalde shooting. Daniel Defense already faces other lawsuits from relatives of victims, with the company’s CEO dismissing them as frivolous and politically motivated.
In addition to the lawsuits against the companies, victims’ families have also filed a separate lawsuit against nearly 100 state police officers for a botched emergency response to the shooting. The families have reached a $2 million settlement with the city of Uvalde, with other lawsuits against public agencies still pending.
Overall, the families of the Uvalde shooting victims are seeking justice and accountability from the companies and individuals they believe played a role in the tragic events of that day. The lawsuits aim to hold those responsible for their actions and prevent similar tragedies in the future.
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https://www.voanews.com/a/families-of-texas-school-shooting-victims-sue-meta-microsoft-gunmaker-/7626191.html