The surviving victims of the Highland Park mass shooting which left seven people dead have filed lawsuits against five parties.
Families of people killed as well as survivors still suffering physical and mental health problems are taking legal action against gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson, two gun stores, the accused shooter and the shooter’s father, court documents show.
The annual procession celebrating Independence Day in wealthy Highland Park area of Chicago was stopped just minutes after it started at 10am local time on July 4 2022, with hundreds of attendees running for safety as the shooting began.
Parade-goers left behind chairs, prams, bicycles and blankets as they fled the event route on Central Street in the city's downtown area.
As well as the seven people who died, at least four dozen were rushed to hospital.
According to the complaint, brought by Romanucci & Blandin, on behalf of those affected: "The Shooter exchanged one empty magazine for another at least three different times. He fired 83 rounds in seconds."
The shooter had climbed onto a rooftop overlooking the street where the parade was going down and fired indiscriminantly into the crowds, officials said
The shooter was allegedly later identified as Robert Eugene Crimo III who was arrested around eight hours after the shooting and was later charged with 21 counts of first-degree murder, three for each people he killed, 48 counts of attempted murder, and 48 counts of aggravated battery.
In a voluntary statement to authorities, Crimo said he “looked down his sights, aimed and opened fire ”, Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Ben Dillon said during Crimo’s virtual bail hearing in July.
Lake County Major Crime Task Force spokesperson Chris Covelli said Crimo had dressed in women's clothing to cover his tattoos and after the shooting, left the roof and blended in with the fleeing crowd.
Alla Lefkowitz, senior director of affirmative litigation at Everytown Law, said: “As our complaints allege, he used a gun that was deceptively and unfairly marketed to him by Smith & Wesson, illegally sold to him by Bud’s Gun Shop and Red Dot Arms, and negligently put in his hands by his father.
"Each and every one of those entities and individuals bears responsibility for the devastation at the parade, and our lawsuit seeks to hold them accountable for the damage their actions led to.”
The plaintiffs argue gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson "knew that its marketing and sales practices promote and sell an image that caters to and attracts individuals like the shooter."
The seven victims who lost their life in the Highland Park shooting were Irina and Kevin McCarthy, Eduardo Uvaldo, Katherine Goldstein, Nicolas Toledo, Stephen Straus and Jacki Sundheim. The family's of the final three are plaintiffs in this latest civil case.
The alleged shooter’s father, Robert Crimo Jr., was named in the lawsuit, which allowed his son to buy the weapon allegedly used before he turned 21.
“He too is liable for the havoc and death caused by his son,” the lawsuits state.
Police reports show that officers were regularly called out to the Crimo house and in 2019, confiscated a number of knives after the younger Crimo, then 18, threatened to “kill everyone.”
