Families of Ohio shooting victims sue Henderson gun magazine maker
A wrongful death lawsuit accuses a Henderson company that sells high-capacity magazines of recklessly channeling the ammunition into the hands of a mass shooter in Dayton, Ohio.
The complaint, filed Sunday in Clark County on behalf of four victims’ families, claims magazine maker Kyung Chang Industry USA Inc. deliberately marketed and sold 100-round magazines without any safeguards or limits.
“The Shooter needed Defendants’ instrument of slaughter to accomplish his mission— to kill and terrorize many people quickly,” attorneys wrote. “Defendants needed the Shooter to accomplish their mission — to make as much money as possible.”
The magazine maker could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
On Aug. 4, 2019, a gunman used the magazine to fire 41 rounds in 32 seconds in Dayton’s crowded Oregon entertainment district before he was killed by police, the complaint states.
Armed with an AR-style gun with the extended ammunition magazine, Connor Betts shot 26 people and killed nine, including his sister.
The magazine “enabled the Shooter to transform the popular commercial district into a war zone,” wrote the family’s lawyers, which include Las Vegas attorney Sean Claggett.
The victims included the plaintiffs’ relatives Derrick Fudge, 57; Lois Oglesby, 27; Logan Turner, 30; and Nicole Warren-Curtis, 36.
Dion Green was with his dad, Fudge, when the shooting began. His father stood in front of him and took the gunfire. Fudge died in his arms, the complaint states.
Plaintiff LaSandra James is the mother of Oglesby, who left behind two daughters.
Oglesby left a phone message after she was shot: “I just got shot in my head. I need to get to my kids,” she said, according to the lawsuit.
Plaintiffs Danita and Michael Turner are the mother and father of Logan Turner, a machinist going back to school who had just bought his first house and a dream car.
Nadine Warren, the mother of Warren-Curtis, also is a plaintiff in the case. Her daughter was enjoying a night out with her friend and co-worker, Monica Brickhouse, who also died.
The Dayton shooting occurred a week after similar magazines were used at the Gilroy, California Garlic festival and 13 hours after they were used at an El Paso Walmart in Texas, where 23 people were killed.
Similar magazines were used by the gunman on the Las Vegas Strip on Oct. 1, 2017, from the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay.
Armed with multiple firearms — including several AR-style rifles — a dozen 100-round magazines and a 40-round magazine, the gunman fired on the crowd at the Route 91 Harvest festival.
In total, 60 people died from their injuries and hundreds more were wounded.
Attorneys are seeking damages and a court order to stop the company from supplying high-capacity magazines without safeguards to prevent their misuse.
Contact Briana Erickson at berickson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5244. Follow @ByBrianaE on Twitter.
