Old National Bank shooting survivors file suit, claim gun seller missed 'red flags'

[Leroy N. Soetoro]

https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/crime/2024/01/22/louisvilles-
old-national-bank-shooting-survivors-sue-gun-seller/72204269007/

A lawsuit filed Monday in Jefferson County claims a local gun store
overlooked red flags when selling an AR-15-style rifle that was eventually
used to kill five in the April mass shooting at Old National Bank.

The circuit court lawsuit is filed on behalf of six plaintiffs against
Louisville gun shop River City Firearms.

The plaintiffs are: Julie Andersen, Jimmy Evans, Dana Mitchell and
Stephanie "Dallas" Schwartz, who were all injured in the attack but
survived; and the families of James Tutt and Joshua Barrick, who were
killed.

Derrick Meyers founded River City Firearms at 2915 Preston Highway in
October 2015, per its articles of incorporation with the Secretary of
State.

The Courier Journal contacted River City Firearms regarding the lawsuit
filing, but did not receive a response.

Louisville attorney Tad Thomas of Thomas Law Offices, along with Antonio
Romanucci of Romanucci & Blandin in Chicago and Alla Lefkowitz of the
national group Everytown Law, represent the plaintiffs, who are seeking
compensatory and punitive damages.

Romanucci & Blandin currently represent victims of the Uvalde, Texas,
school shooting, where 19 fourth-grade students were killed, along with
three adults, in May 2022.

The firm has won successful verdicts in cases brought by the families of
George Floyd and Tyre Nichols, who were killed by police.

Everytown Law is a group of national litigators focused on holding gun
manufacturers and sellers accountable through the court system. Lefkowitz
is Everytown's senior director of litigation.

Lawsuits against the gun industry are affected by a federal law.

In 2005, President George W. Bush signed the Protection of Lawful Commerce
in Arms Act, giving the gun industry immunity if their gun is used in a
crime. (Kentucky had a similar law enacted in 1988. The state gun immunity
law was deemed unconstitutional in 1991, but the federal law takes
precedent.)

There are exceptions to the 2005 law, though, including negligence on the
part of a seller, which is what the suit is alleging.

The Courier Journal reported in November about the lawyers' intentions to
file suit against Radical Firearms, the Texas-based gun manufacturer, and
Thomas said that is still possible, but for now, River City Firearms is
the focus.

"A lot of (this complaint) is based upon the information we received from
the Louisville Metro Police file, and what was missing from the file was
any investigation into the manufacturer," Thomas said. "It's not
necessarily a shift, but we want to make sure that we file strong cases,
and the case against the River City is very strong.

"So that was the first one to be filed, but it may not be the last one."

This is not the first time a lawsuit has been brought against a gun
seller, although "they are not very common," Lefkowitz told The Courier
Journal.

During a Tuesday press conference regarding the lawsuit, Louisville
attorney Hans Poppe said he was planning to file a "substantially similar"
complaint on behalf of the families of Juliana Farmer and Tommy Elliott,
who were both killed in the mass shooting.

The Courier Journal spoke with plaintiff Karen Tutt, whose husband Jim was
running low on fuel the morning of April 10, but decided not to stop for
gas.

"I wish he had," Karen Tutt said.

Instead, Jim was in the bank conference room during a monthly sales
meeting and was shot and killed. Karen Tutt said for the last six months
she's been in a fog, but she hopes the lawsuit brings accountability.

"I feel like I have to honor Jim," she said. "There has to be a purpose in
the pain."

Suspicious behavior, lack of firearms knowledge
According to the LMPD report, River City Firearms sold an AR-15-style
rifle on April 4, 2023, to Connor Sturgeon, 25, an Old National Bank
employee, who pulled the rifle from a gym bag on April 10 and opened fire
on fellow employees during a monthly sales meeting at Old National Bank's
downtown office. (The bank has since relocated its office.)

The complaint alleges "red flags were present in spades" when River City
Firearms sold the AR-15 to Sturgeon, citing his suspicious behavior and
lack of basic firearms knowledge.

Sturgeon told the clerk he wanted a firearm because a friend's home had
recently been burglarized, per his own notes that were included in LMPD's
November report — "indicating that he wanted to buy an AR-15 for home
defense, a use for which an AR-15 is particularly poorly suited for a
novice shooter," the complaint states.

The complaint also mentions a witness who was inside River City Firearms
during Sturgeon's purchase and who said he "demonstrated a complete lack
of knowledge or experience with firearms and that he spoke in an unusually
quiet tone and appeared embarrassed upon making eye contact with others,
lowering his head and averting his gaze."

Sturgeon's interactions at River City Firearms left "such an impression"
on the woman that after his 20 minutes at the store, she considered
calling police.

"Louisville is a big, small town," Thomas said. "The woman who was at the
gun shop was familiar with some of the people that worked at Old National
Bank, so that is how the name got over to us.

"We interviewed her, and frankly, it was shocking that someone who doesn't
sell firearms for a living would be able to recognize immediately that
someone like Connor didn't need to be purchasing a firearm like this."

When news of the shooting broke, according to the complaint, the woman
turned to her husband and said, "I bet it's that kid from the store."

Extra magazines, red-dot sight and vertical grip
The complaint also alleges that while River City failed to stop the
transaction, it also used it to "embolden the novice shooter and made him
more deadly" by selling three additional 30-round magazines, a red-dot
sight to increase accuracy and a vertical grip that allows greater control
of the weapon.

"Despite Sturgeon's complete lack of experience, 23 seconds was enough
time for him to shoot and kill five people," the complaint states.

During his assault on the bank meeting, LMPD found, Sturgeon fired 25-30
rounds into the conference room.

The additional magazine allowed Sturgeon to quickly reload before opening
fire on law enforcement, which hit Officer Nickolas Wilt in the head and
Officer Cory Galloway in the chest as they entered the bank.

"If River City had not sold Sturgeon this extra large-capacity magazine,
(he) would not have been able to continue firing," the lawsuit alleges.

During Tuesday's press conference, lawyers also mentioned the possibility
of legal action against the makers of the additional equipment purchased
by Sturgeon.

"People who are engaged in selling firearms need to be on notice that
these kind of actions have very, very real, devastating consequences,"
Lefkowitz said.

Plaintiff Dallas Schwartz is still dealing with trauma and stress from the
bullet that hit her leg and left her in rehabilitation for nearly a month.

"I don’t want anyone to ever have to deal with what I’ve dealt with or
anybody that has had to deal with that day ... not just that day but any
mass shooting," Schwartz said. "If there could be any type of change, even
if it’s small..."

"There’s people not here anymore that can’t fight that fight. I feel like
I need to do that for them."

ATF's Top 100 list
The ATF or Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms — which oversees
federally licensed firearms dealers, like River City Firearms — provides
resources on how to identify and prevent dangerous firearms sales.

It says gun sellers should ask about the intended use of the firearm, and
it reminds them that they have "the right and the obligation to decline a
sale if something doesn't feel right," according to the complaint.

"I genuinely believe that most people who are in the business of selling
firearms are absolutely horrified at something like this happening and do
not want this to happen," Lefkowitz said. "They don't want this on their
conscience, so to the extent that our complaint can help them look at
something and say, 'Look, we need to be taking a look at how we train our
associates, what red flags that we look for' — that's really important
because I don't think anyone wants to be involved in a situation like
this."

River City Firearms was identified by Louisville's ATF field office as a
Top 100 Trace Dealer, according to a 2017 inspection released to The Brady
under an open records request. The Brady is a national non-profit focused
on gun violence that posts its collected information online.

A Top 100 Trace Dealer is a ranking used by the ATF in relation to the
number of firearms used in crimes traced back to the licensee.

That 2017 inspection also found River City Firearms had nine separate
violations, including failure to obtain accurate transaction forms and
failing to comply with reporting requirements.

The violations resulted in a warning letter from the ATF, the least severe
form of the ATF's administrative remedies. The most severe form is a
license revocation.

"This was an entirely preventable disaster," said Thomas, the local
attorney for the plaintiffs. "They want accountability for their families
and the victims, for the city of Louisville.

"Everybody in Louisville had a connection to these murders. I think it's
important that the city see that there is accountability and hopefully
people take note and maybe something is prevented in the future."

Stephanie Kuzydym is an enterprise and investigative sports reporter, with
a focus on the health and safety of athletes. She can be reached at
skuz...@courier-journal.com. Follow her for updates at @stephkuzy.

Sturgeon had been told he was going to be fired from the bank shortly
before the massacre. The reasons for firing, lazy and incompetent.

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