Uvalde shooting victim’s mother files federal lawsuit against police, gunmaker

The mother of one of the victims in the Uvalde, Texas, elementary school massacre has filed a federal lawsuit against the city’s law enforcement agencies, the local school district and a gun manufacturer in the wake of the mass shooting.

In the lawsuit filed Monday, Eliahna Torres, the mother of Robb Elementary fourth grader Sandra Torres, accuses the city, the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District (UCISD) and multiple police departments of a “complete failure” to follow procedures set out by active shooter drills and violating the “constitutional rights” of the victims by “barricading them inside” two classrooms for over an hour. 

The lawsuit also alleges that gun manufacturer Daniel Defense violated the Federal Trade Commission Act by negligently using “militaristic imagery” to lure young consumers to purchase their products.

Daniel Defense also advertises its products to target audiences through various social media platforms and popular combat video games such as the ​​Call of Duty franchise, according to the lawsuit.

Torres also names as a defendant the local gun store in Uvalde where Salvador Ramos purchased the weapon used in the shooting, along with another rifle and ammunition.

“Eliahna loved her family, and she knew how much we loved her,” Sandra Torres said in a statement. “I miss her every moment of every day. I’ve brought this lawsuit to seek accountability. No parent should ever go through what I have.”

Torres is being represented by Texas-based law firm LM Law Group, which is working alongside litigators with nonprofit organization Everytown for Gun Safety.

The latest lawsuit follows another filed in September where the families of the survivors of the shooting sued the school district, multiple gun manufacturers, the city’s law enforcement agencies and other defendants.

The shooting resulted in the deaths of 19 children and two teachers. The families are seeking punitive damages against all of the defendants except for the school district and the City of Uvalde.

“The shooting in Uvalde was a horrific tragedy – and wholly preventable,” Eric Tirschwell, executive director of Everytown Law, the legal branch of Everytown for Gun Safety, said in a statement.

“The massacre that killed Eliahna Torres and 20 others that day wasn’t just an act of one violent, troubled young man armed with an assault rifle. There are several actors responsible for putting the gun in his possession and failing to protect the children he attacked. This lawsuit is intended to hold them accountable.”

UCISD declined to comment on The Hill’s inquiry, saying in a statement that it remains focused on continuing support for “our students and their families as we continue to navigate these unprecedented times.” 

The Hill has reached out to defendants in the lawsuit filed Monday.