Years later, Uvalde families sue gun manufacturer, video game developer, and Instagram for" wrongful deaths"

UVALDE, TX - Two years to the day following the brutal massacre of 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, families of the victims have filed a slew of wrongful death lawsuits in California and Texas, Those targeted are Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta, Daniel Defense, the manufacturer of the DDM4V7 rifle used by the murderer Salvador Ramos and Activision, the game developer of the "Call of Duty" franchise.

The lawsuits, which follow just two days after the settlement of the 19 families with the City of Uvalde for $2 million, are predicated on the notions that Meta and Activision "enabled and emboldened firearm manufacturers' efforts to expand the market for their weapons by granting unprecedented, direct and 24/7 access to children," and that Activision and Daniel Defense have been "partnering…in a scheme that preys upon insecure, adolescent boys," according to a statement from the attorneys obtained by CBS News.

The attorneys for the families have alleged that the mass murderer purchased his rifle from Daniel Defense on his eighteenth birthday, eight days prior to the horrific attack on the school, emphasizing that he ordered the weapon just minutes after midnight, and created an account on the website weeks before.

Attorney Josh Koskoff, who represents all 19 families, filed the claims that suggest that the murderer, Ramos, "was targeted and cultivated online by Instagram, Activision and Daniel Defense." The suit continues, "This three-headed monster knowingly exposed him to the weapon, conditioned him to see it as a tool to solve his problems and trained him to use it."

Koskoff points in the filing to the fact that Ramos had been playing  "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare" since 2021 and previous iterations of the franchise since he was 15 years old, constituting the "training" he described, citing that the game features the DDM4V7 as a selectable weapon.
 

"Simultaneously, on Instagram, the shooter was being courted through explicit, aggressive marketing," the attorneys said according to CBS. "In addition to hundreds of images depicting and venerating the thrill of combat, Daniel Defense used Instagram to extol the illegal, murderous use of its weapons."
 

Josh Koskoff, attorney for the families in the Uvalde shooting, speaks as a $2 million settlement with the city is reached before the two-year anniversary of the attack.

"Mass shootings are a very destructive thing. They destroy families. They destroy communities, they divide… pic.twitter.com/JhDcGFSu29

— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 22, 2024

"Instagram creates a connection between …an adolescent …and the gun and a gun company," Koskoff added. "And nobody exploited Instagram for this purpose more than Daniel Defense. If Instagram can prevent people from posting pictures of their private parts, they can prevent people from posting pictures of an AR-15. And of course, Instagram doesn't care. They don't care. All they care about is driving traffic and generating attention, drawing attention and getting their ad revenue."  

Koskoff told CBS News Friday in an interview that the two lawsuits against each grouping of defendants were deliberately designed to work "in concert with each other."   

In addition to the lawsuits against the four corporations, attorneys for the families also announced that another $500 million federal lawsuit against the Texas Department of Public Safety and 92 named troopers who responded to the school shooting is forthcoming.

The Austin American-Statesman reported that attorneys alleged while DPS officers had the necessary training to intervene they "ignored all of it." Koskoff levied heavy criticism at the officers questioning why they were unable to stop the shooter sooner. 

“Three hundred and seventy-six to one … it should have been no contest,” Koskoff said. “But for 77 minutes, how did this kid hold back 376 heavily armed and trained law enforcement?”