AUSTIN, Texas _ Families and survivors of the gruesome church shooting in Sutherland Springs that left 27 people dead in 2017 have filed a new lawsuit against Academy Sports + Outdoors, alleging the company never should have sold to Devin Kelley the rifle used in the attack.
The lawsuit, filed by 56 plaintiffs each seeking monetary relief over $1 million, said Academy violated firearms laws when they sold Kelley a Ruger AR-556 rifle because he reported that his address was in Colorado at the time of purchase, and produced a state-issued identification card that matched the address he gave.
The petition said Academy can't legally sell or deliver a firearm to a citizen of another state if it would not be legal in their home state.
"This fact alone legally disqualified the mass shooter from purchasing the Ruger AR-556 model 8500 firearm," a petition filed in Bexar County on Wednesday said. "In the same transaction, Defendant Academy also illegally sold the mass shooter an additional high-capacity magazine designed to hold more than 15 rounds of ammunition. Pursuant to applicable law, this element of the firearm sale was also illegal."
According to the suit, Colorado enacted laws prohibiting high-capacity rifles after the mass shooting in Aurora that left 12 dead and 58 injured.
"As a Colorado resident, a state with a High Capacity Firearm ban, the mass shooter should not have been sold the firearm by Academy," the petition said.
The document alleges that Academy has sold countless rifles to individuals who reside in states where they are banned, and the sale to Kelley was " ... part of an ongoing pattern of illegal and dangerous firearms sales that pose a severe risk to members of the Texas community, including Plaintiffs."
The new suit is latest in a string of lawsuits that have alleged negligence on the part of Academy and the federal government.
Families and survivors also have accused the U.S. Air Force of negligence for failing to report conduct and a criminal conviction that should have barred him from purchasing weapons. Kelley was kicked out of the service after a domestic violence conviction, a detail Air Force officials have said was not reported to the proper authorities.
In addition to monetary damages, plaintiffs also are seeking a permanent injunction prohibiting Academy from selling high-capacity rifles in Texas to residents of states where they are prohibited.
