Three Robb Elementary School survivors and their parents have filed the first federal lawsuit since the May 24 shooting that killed 19 pupils and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas.
The Uvalde school district, police force, and weapons distributors are named in the case, which was filed Thursday in federal court in Del Rio, Texas.
First Major Lawsuit Filed Over Robb Elementary School Mass Shooting
It also mentions Pete Arredondo, the school district's police chief who was sacked in August, and Mandy Gutierrez, the former principal of Robb Elementary who has taken on a new job in the school system administration.
Oasis Outback, the gun shop where the gunman picked up his weapons days before the assault, and Daniel Defense, the gun manufacturer who sold him the pistol online, are both named in the case. The gun manufacturer targets young boys like the suspected shooter, according to ABC News.
Motorola Solutions, door locking manufacturer Schneider Electric USA, sacked school Police Chief Pete Arredondo, and suspended police Lt. Mariano Pargas, who was acting city Police Chief at the time, are also listed.
The school was also accused of leaving external doors open and failing to solve technical concerns with classroom doors, which allowed the gunman easy access to pupils and teachers. They referenced a July investigation by the Texas State House Committee that blamed a culture of complacency for inadequate measures that may have halted the shooter.
The police reaction to the massacre was heavily criticized since over 400 policemen responded but did not approach and kill the gunman for more than an hour. The families also claimed that the city's police department failed to follow state-mandated active shooter training protocols put in place after the Columbine High School massacre, cops fled after coming under fire from the gunman, then waited for help.
The complaint also names school Principal Mandy Gutierrez, who was restored three days after being suspended for rebutting a harshly scathing parliamentary committee report finding a culture of complacency at the school.
According to the complaint, Motorola's devices failed to function inside the school, leaving first responders without information transmitted from dispatch and/or other first responders, and Schneider Electric's doors failed to lock as planned after being shut, as per Independent.
Uvalde School Shooting
The current complaint comes on the heels of another filed in June by four families whose children were injured in the shooting against the estate of Salvador Ramos, the lone suspect in the massacre who was slain by responding border patrol agents. The families are suing Ramos' estate for up to $100 million in compensation for bodily and emotional harm caused by the May tragedy.
Except for the school system and the city of Uvalde, the families who filed the complaint this week demand punitive damages from all of the defendants, according to The Hill.
Students in Uvalde returned to school for the first time since the shooting earlier this month. Robb Elementary School, the site of the incident, has been permanently shuttered. The school's students were divided among three other primary schools in the vicinity, Washington Examiner reported.
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