Jurors in Milwaukee have ordered Badger Guns, a local gun store, to pay roughly $5 million in damages to two police officers after finding it was negligent for selling a pistol to a man in a straw purchase who later used the weapon to injure them.
Milwaukee Officer Bryan Norberg and former officer Graham Kunisch were wounded by the gun in 2009, when Julius Burton shot both of them in the face while they were stopping him from riding his bike on the sidewalk, reported NewsOxy. Both officers claimed to have been left mentally and physically scarred following the incident and said the shop should be held liable for selling the weapon.
The two say the shop personnel were negligent since it was clear another man purchased the gun for Burton, who was a minor at the time of the shooting, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported.
Lawyers for the gun shop owner countered the accusation, saying employees had no reason to think the gun was purchased for someone else.
The officers' lawsuit sought nearly $10 million in damages, and at its conclusion Norberg was awarded $1.5 million for medical expenses and lost income and Kunisch $3.5 million in damages, reported CNN. The jury also awarded $730,000 in punitive damages.
Prior to the case, legal experts said the officers would face a very high bar to win and would likely need to prove criminal behavior on the part of the gun shop. The officers did so by citing a 2005 document that revealed that more than 500 firearms recovered from crime scenes had been traced back to the gun store, making it the "No.1 crime gun dealer in America."
Jurors speaking to local media revealed that statistic, along with testimony from the gun shop owners, ultimately affected their decision.
Juror Brett Heaton said: "My gut tells me the defendants are not malicious people, but they're negligent people."
