Families of Texas school shooting victims sue gun maker, Instagram

HOUSTON, United States — Several families whose children were killed or injured in a mass shooting at their Texas school two years ago have sued the gun maker as well as Instagram and the video game company Activision for marketing the weapon, their lawyer said Friday.

Nineteen young children and two teachers were killed in the town of Uvalde on May 24, 2022, when an armed teenager went on a rampage with an AR-15 assault rifle at Robb Elementary School, in the deadliest school shooting in the United States in a decade.

The families accuse the companies of wrongful death and gross negligence, saying weapons maker Daniel Defense, as well as Meta-owned Instagram and Microsoft-owned Activision, whose video game “Call of Duty” features the weapon, marketed it to “insecure people and teenagers”. boys,” according to a statement from attorney Josh Koskoff.

READ: Video shows hesitant police response to Uvalde school shooting

Koskoff insisted there was a direct link between the companies' behavior and the Uvalde shooting because the shooter purchased the gun immediately after turning 18, the legal age in Texas to purchase long guns such as rifles.

“Long before I was old enough to buy it, it was targeted and cultivated online by Instagram, Activision and Daniel Defense,” Koskoff said in his statement.

“This three-headed monster knowingly exposed him to the weapon, conditioned him to view it as a tool to solve his problems, and trained him to use it.”

Activision released a statement saying the Uvalde shooting was “horrific and heartbreaking in every way” and expressed sympathy to the families.

READ: Children, teachers in Texas school shooting die in single classroom

He adds: “Millions of people around the world enjoy video games without turning to horrible acts. »

Meta and Daniel Defense did not immediately respond to AFP's requests for comment.

Earlier this week, Uvalde families reached a $2 million settlement with the Texas city over what the Justice Department called “critical failures” by police in their response to the shooting.

Police eventually shot and killed the shooter, but waited more than an hour before storming the classroom where he was held.

School shootings have become commonplace in a country where about a third of adults own a gun and where regulations on purchasing even powerful military-style rifles are lax.