Family members of four victims killed in the 2019 mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio, filed a lawsuit on Sunday against the manufacturer of the high-capacity magazine used by the gunman, the Associated Press reported.
In the suit, the families allege the magazine can facilitate the killing of as many people as possible because of its large capacity for ammunition. Additionally, they say the manufacturer, Kyung Chang Industry USA Inc., purposefully marketed and sold the 100-round magazine that gunman Connor Betts used to kill nine people in Dayton's Oregon entertainment district, the Associated Press reported.
Betts was able to shoot 41 rounds in 32 seconds because of the magazine's capacity before police shot and killed him, the suit said. The suit also alleged the magazine's maker manufactured the device even though they "have no or negligible utility for lawful uses of firearms but pose a tremendous risk to public safety because they are extremely effective and attractive for use in unlawful mass shootings."
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The magazine's capacity "enabled the Shooter to transform the popular commercial district into a war zone, in seconds," the lawsuit said.
The victims' relatives are seeking unspecified financial damages above $15,000 and a court order stopping the company from supplying high-capacity magazines "without reasonable safeguards to prevent their misuse."
The complaint was brought by family members of shooting victims Derrick Fudge, Lois Oglesby, Logan Turner, and Beatrice Nicole Warren-Curtis.
Messages were left with the company Tuesday seeking comment on the lawsuit.
Betts was killed by police half a minute after he opened fire August 4, 2019, in Dayton's crowded Oregon District entertainment area. Armed with an AR-15-style gun with the extended ammunition magazine, Betts killed nine people, including his sister, and wounded dozens more.
After the shooting, high school classmates said Betts was suspended years ago for compiling a "hit list" of fellow students he wanted to harm. Two of the classmates said Betts had also been suspended after he came to school with a list of female students he wanted to sexually assault.
Police investigators said Betts had a "history of obsession with violent ideations with mass shootings and expressed a desire to commit a mass shooting." The FBI said it uncovered evidence Betts "looked into violent ideologies."
But authorities have also yet to identify a motive, or been able to say definitely whether Betts intended to kill his sister, Megan, or if her death was inadvertent.
The Ohio Supreme Court rejected requests by the media, including the Associated Press, for copies of Betts' school records. The court said last year that state law didn't permit disclosure of such records without a student's consent and didn't make exceptions if the student was deceased.
Last month, the maker of the rifle used in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting offered some of the victims' families nearly $33 million to settle their lawsuit over how the company marketed the firearm to the public.
