BK Subway Shooting Victim Sues Gun Maker Glock Over Firearm Sales

New York City NY

02 June, 2022

12:25 PM

Description

NEW YORK CITY — A victim of a mass shooting in a Brooklyn subway station is suing the gun manufacturer that made the weapon used in the bloody attack. Ilene Steur, 49, accused Glock of glamorizing its product — so much so that their guns were prominently featured on "Law & Order" and "Die Hard 2" — and flooding the market so much over decades that their weapons became more easily accessible to people like Frank James, who is accused of carrying out the April 12 attack, court documents filed this week show. The complaint seeks not only damages for Steur's injuries during the subway shooting, but also to find that Glock liable for creating a "public nuisance." "Furthermore, the kind of harm suffered by Plaintiff (serious gunshot wounds, and trauma from witnessing and experiencing gun violence) is the kind of harm that is reasonably foreseeable when a person who is likely to use them to shoot innocent victims is able to purchase a Glock Firearm as a result of the Defendants' manufacturer's distribution system," the complaint states. Representatives for Glock didn't return a request for comment. The lawsuit comes on the heels of a spate of high-profile mass shootings across the United States — such as in Uvalde, Texas — that have yet again refocused attention on guns. By sheer luck, no one died in the subway shooting, which unfolded on a crowded N train as it pulled into a Sunset Park station. Authorities accused Frank James, 62, of popping two smoke grenades and firing at least 33 shots at straphangers with a Glock firearm. Ten people, including Steur, were struck by bullets and 19 others suffered other injuries in the smoky chaos, according to the lawsuit. The shooting — and scenes of bloodied subway passengers strewn across the platform — shocked New Yorkers and amplified fears of growing crime in the city, especially involving guns. Steur's lawsuit contends the carnage can be directly traced to business decisions made by Glock representatives going back decades. Much of the complaint delves into the gun maker's history, such as during the 1980s when it began to sell in the U.S. and marketed its high-capacity pistol as a replacement for six-round revolvers still used by law enforcement at the time. The company's law enforcement sales eventually flooded into the wider market and pop culture, with glowing references in movies such as "Die Hard 2" and rap lyrics by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, among others, the lawsuit states. Glock had "intentionally produced more firearms than the legitimate market demands with the intent of marketing their firearms to purchasers who buy guns on the secondary market," the lawsuit states. The weapon purchased and used in the subway attack was sold in a manner that Glock representatives knew could land in the hands of people intent on "murder, mayhem, terror, or other crimes," the complaint contends. "...Defendants' practices knowingly facilitate easy access to their deadly products by people like James," the lawsuit states.