Uvalde families sue Meta, video game creator and weapons manufacturer

Families of victims of the Uvalde school shooting are suing the maker of the gun used in the attack, the creator of a video game and the parent company of Instagram Meta.

In two new lawsuits, they claim the companies helped promote dangerous weapons to a generation of “socially vulnerable” young men, including the 18-year-old shooter.

Nineteen children and two teachers were killed in the attack on Robb Primary School.

Friday marked the second anniversary of the Texas school shooting.

The two lawsuits – filed in Texas and California – target Activision, the developer of the “Call of Duty” military video game series; Daniel Defense, the weapons manufacturer known for its high-end rifles; and Meta.

The companies are accused of being responsible for “grooming” a generation of young people who live out violent video game fantasies in the real world, with easily accessible weapons of war.

The shooter, Salvador Ramos, used an AR-15-style rifle in the attack.

The lawsuits allege that Meta and Activision “knowingly exposed” him to the weapon he used in Uvalde and conditioned him to see it as the solution to his problems.

The lawsuits claim that Instagram, Activision and Daniel Defense “joined together…in a scheme that preyed on precarious teenagers,” the lawyers said in a press release.

“There is a direct connection between the behavior of these companies and the Uvalde shooting,” the statement said.

“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.”

According to the lawsuits, the shooter had been playing Call of Duty, a war video game with a rifle similar to the one used in the shooting, since he was 15 years old.

The lawsuit says the shooter was “concurrently” the subject of “aggressive marketing” from Daniel Defense, which targeted the teen with ads on Instagram.

“Instagram creates a link between… a teenager… and the gun and a gun company,” Josh Koskoff, the plaintiffs' lawyer, told the BBC's US media partner CBS on Friday.

“And no one has leveraged Instagram for this purpose more than Daniel Defense.”

An Activision spokesperson told CBS that “the Uvalde shooting was horrific and heartbreaking in every way,” adding that the company expresses its “deepest condolences” to the victims and their families.

“Millions of people around the world enjoy video games without engaging in horrible acts,” the spokesperson said.

The BBC has contacted Meta, Daniel Defense and Activision for comment.

Daniel Defense, which faces other lawsuits from some victims' families, said in a 2022 statement that such litigation was “frivolous” and “politically motivated.”

On Wednesday, the victims' families reached a $2 million (£1.5 million) settlement with the city of Uvalde.

More than 370 officers from various local, state and federal departments were at Robb Elementary during the attack.

It took police more than an hour to arrest the shooter, who was barricaded in nearby classrooms.

Additionally, the families announced they would file new lawsuits against 92 state Department of Public Safety officers for “shocking and significant failures” in responding to the shooting.

With files from Peter Bowes