Victims of the Highland Park July 4th Shooting File Lawsuits

Keely and Jason Roberts filed one of the lawsuits in Lake County Circuit Court on Sept. 27, against several firearm sales companies including the Paris, PA based Bud’s Gun Shop (budsgunshop.com).

Also named in the suit were Smith and Wesson Brands, Inc., Smith & Wesson Sales Company, Smith & Wesson and Red Dot Arms LLC, according to court documents.

The alleged shooter, Robert Crimo III and his father, Robert Crimo Jr. are also named defendants in the suit.

Documents filed with the court allege that each defendant enabled Crimo to carry out the massacre on July 4, when he fired 83 shots in seconds during a Fourth of July Parade. Keely Roberts was shot in the foot and her 8-year-old son was paralyzed by a bullet, according to the lawsuit.

Crimo the 3rd was able to purchase the Smith & Wesson M&P15 (military & police) semiautomatic assault rifle used in the attack from Bud’s
Gun Shop online in June 2020 with the help of his father, who sponsored
his son’s FOID card application, according to
court documents.

The family’s attorney, Antonio Romanucci, said in a press release
that the two gun stores negligently and illegally sold the murder
weapon. Romanucci is a founding partner at Romanucci & Blandin, LLC,
a law firm representing the victims which announced the lawsuits
Wednesday.

“Bud’s Gun Shop sold the M&P assault rifle to the
shooter despite the fact that it is illegal for residents of Highwood,
Illinois and Highland Park, Illinois to acquire and possess assault
weapons,” the Roberts family said in the lawsuit.

Court documents
state Bud’s Gun Shop shipped the gun to Red Dot Arms, a gun dealer
located in Illinois, which transferred the assault rifle to the shooter.
In summer 2020, Red Dot Arms transferred the M&P rifle to the
shooter after conducting a background check and verifying the ID. The
lawsuit alleges that Bud’s Gun Shop knew Crimo’s address because it was
on the purchasing order.

“Both companies knew the shooter’s
address, and thus knew that they were selling an assault rifle to a
resident of a municipality that prohibited the possession of such
weapons. Nevertheless, they proceeded with the sale and transfer,
enabling the shooter to carry out his deadly mission,” the family said
in the lawsuit.

Source Article: https://www.yahoo.com/news/mass-shooting-victims-sue-lexington-15062498…