Families of the victims who were shot and killed in the Uvalde elementary school shooting two years ago are suing Meta, the video-game publisher behind Call of Duty, and a Georgia-based gun manufacturer for allegedly “grooming” the 18-year-old shooter.
The two lawsuits, filed Friday, accuse the companies of exposing the teenager to violence in games and on social media, which led him to buy and use an AR-style rifle. The first suit targets Meta, which owns Instagram, and Activision in California, while the other aims to litigate Daniel Defense in Texas. Daniel Defense had already been sued in at least two other lawsuits.
“There is a direct line between the conduct of these companies and the Uvalde shooting,” said Josh Koskoff, an attorney for the families, according to the Associated Press. “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.”
The litigation marks the two-year anniversary of the incident at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas — the deadliest school shooting in the state’s history.
Salvador Ramos, the gunman who killed 19 students and two teachers and wounded 17 others, bought an AR-15 firearm from Daniel Defense about a week prior to the shooting — 23 minutes after he turned 18. Months before, he played one of the Call of Duty games and obsessively posted about weapons on Instagram.
“Simultaneously, on Instagram, the shooter was being courted through explicit, aggressive marketing,” the families’ attorneys said. “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.”
In response to the lawsuit, Activision said the Uvalde shooting was “horrendous and heartbreaking in every way, and we express our deepest sympathies to the families and communities who remain impacted by this senseless act of violence.” Despite the tragedy, the company defended its popular video-game franchise. “Millions of people around the world enjoy video games without turning to horrific acts,” Activision added.
The other companies did not immediately release statements, but a video-game industry trade group argued research has found no evidence of video games causing violence or influencing violent behaviors.
“We are saddened and outraged by senseless acts of violence,” the Entertainment Software Association said. “At the same time, we discourage baseless accusations linking these tragedies to video gameplay, which detract from efforts to focus on the root issues in question and safeguard against future tragedies. Many other countries have similar rates of video gameplay to the United States, yet do not see similar rates of gun violence.”
Friday’s legal action comes two days after Uvalde families filed a $500 million federal lawsuit against the Texas Department of Public Safety and 92 police officers for failing to stop the active-shooter scenario in a timely manner. On May 24, 2022, law enforcement waited 77 minutes between arriving on the scene and engaging with the shooter inside Robb Elementary School. The families blamed the botched police response for the deaths of their children and relatives.
“Nearly 100 officers from the Texas Department of Public Safety have yet to face a shred of accountability for cowering in fear while my daughter and nephew bled to death in their classroom,” said Veronica Luevanos, whose daughter Jailah and nephew Jayce were killed by Ramos.
In addition to the 92 named police officers, the Uvalde School District, former Robb Elementary School principal Mandy Gutierrez, and former Uvalde School District police chief Pete Arredondo are listed as defendants.
Also on Wednesday, the victims’ families announced that they reached a $2 million settlement with the city of Uvalde, which will provide improved training for current and future police officers to prevent a similar tragedy from occurring again. As part of the settlement, Uvalde will establish May 24 as an annual day of remembrance for the 19 students and two teachers who died that day in 2022 and create a permanent memorial at the city plaza.
“For two long years, we have languished in pain and without any accountability from the law enforcement agencies and officers who allowed our families to be destroyed that day,” Luevanos added. “This settlement reflects a first good faith effort, particularly by the City of Uvalde, to begin rebuilding trust in the systems that failed to protect us.”
The city and local authorities, among other defendants, also face a $27 billion lawsuit that seeks class-action status for survivors. That suit was filed in December 2022.