Family of Highland Park shooting victim files wrongful death lawsuit against Smith & Wesson

HIGHLAND PARK, IL (CBS) — The family of one of the seven victims killed in the 2022 July 4 parade shootings in Highland Park has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the manufacturer of the weapons used in the shooting.

The family of Eduardo Uvalde, a father, grandfather and great-grandfather, is suing Smith & Wesson, the manufacturer of the M&P 15 — the AR-15-style weapon — used in the shooting.

A group of survivors and families of children present that day are also part of the lawsuit.

The complaint filed Friday in Illinois state court alleges that the manufacturer continued to market and sell its M&P 15 and also pushed it to teenagers despite its use in four mass shootings — including in Aurora, CO, San Bernardino, CA, Parkland, FL, and Poway, CA — over the past decade.

The families claim the company's decision to continue marketing and selling the gun, particularly to teenagers, constituted negligence and violated an Illinois state consumer protection law by promoting the use deadly and criminal of the weapon.

Uvaldo was shot and killed during the parade just before his 70th birthday. Several members of his family were also present that day.

“Eduardo was a kind, loving, hardworking man who adored his family. He was taken too soon: because of the actions of a troubled young man and the greedy corporation that manufactured and marketed his weapon,” Uvaldo's family said in a joint statement: “As we work to honor his memory, we are fighting in part to prevent other families from experiencing this indescribable pain. The shooter may be facing justice, but he could not have acted with this weapon without the choices and actions of Smith & Wesson. »

Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder, which previously represented the nine Sandy Hook families in the Remington settlement, and Rapoport Weisberg & Sims PC will represent the plaintiffs.

The lawsuit also implicates Budgsunshop.com, LLC and Red Dot Arms, Inc. for selling the gun to a person prohibited from possessing it.

“Although this heinous conduct began with Smith and Wesson, it was continued to completion by a series of other bad actors who contributed to this tragedy,” said Matthew Sims of Rapoport Weisberg & Sims, PC.