Shortly before commemorating the tragedy’s second anniversary, an attorney for victims of the massacre announced that Century Arms has been named as another defendant.
Survivors and the family members of the victims of the Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting are continuing a series of lawsuits against groups involved in the tragedy.
According to ABC7News, they have filed suit against a multitude of organizations, including the Gilroy Garlic Festival Association, the City of Gilroy, and First Alarm Century. Earlier this week, Century Arms was added to the list of defendants.
Speaking to ABC7, attorney Randall Scarlett explained that Century Arms created the weapon used in the mass shooting.
“Century is a distributor of arms that is responsible for not only distributing the weapon of war that was used in this tragedy, but also of assembling it,” Scarlett said.
The lawsuit, adds ABC7, requests that a court remand damages and injunctive relief from Century to the plaintiffs.
While the victims of mass shootings have long failed in their efforts to hold firearm manufacturers liable for the damage wrought by their weapons, the parents and loved ones of people injured in the Sandy Hook massacred were recently offered a $33 million settlement by another gun company.
ABC7’s legal analyst, Steve Clark, noted that the plaintiffs have probably made the right move by adding Century Arms to their lawsuit.
“They’re trying to get around the insulation that gun dealers have enjoyed for many years by saying, the way you’re marketing this, you’re negligent in that fashion, and you should be at the table as well sharing a portion of fault,” Clark told the network.
As LegalReader.com reported before, the plaintiffs’ lawsuits broadly allege that the different defendants contributed to the shooting circumstantially. The festival’s organizers and its security team did not, for instance, properly secure the premises—potentially allowing the shooter to slip in unnoticed.
CBS-Local San Francisco notes that all of the four people killed in the Garlic Festival shooting were under age 25; a further 17 people were injured.
July 29th marks the two-year anniversary of the shooting. Many of the victims’ family members spent the day commemorating the memories of loved ones lost or injured.
The function was attended by Gilroy’s mayor, Marie Blankley, as well as the city’s police chief, Pedro Espinoza.
“We’re here today at this memorial site at Christmas Hill Park to remember the lives lost of Trevor Irby, Keyla Salazar and Stephen Romero and the lives forever changed by a sudden act of violence at Gilroy’s 41st annual Garlic Festival,” Gilroy Mayor Marie Blankley said.
“I know that out of the tragic day, a sense of pride of being part of this community was born,” Espinoza said. “It is a pride that has made us stronger. Together, Gilroy, we are strong. We are Gilroy Strong.”
Sources
Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting victims add rifle manufacturing company to existing lawsuit
UPDATE: Gilroy Garlic Festival Shooting Victims Remembered on Somber 2nd Anniversary;
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