A Texas state court will decided today if victims of the Sutherland Springs shooting can sue Academy Sports + Outdoors for their alleged role in the massacre.
In November 2017, Devin Patrick Kelley entered into the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, armed with a high-capacity assault rifle that he purchased from Academy, and killed 26 people, an unborn child, and wounded more than 20 others.
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The attorney for the victim’s families, Corpus Christi’s Robert C. Hilliard, says Academy negligently sold Kelley the Ruger AR-556 with a 30-round capacity magazine used in the shooting.
“If a customer with an out-of-state driver’s license walks into a Texas gun store to purchase a firearm, the gun store, here Academy, is required by law to comply with both the laws of the state of Texas and the laws of the state where that purchaser lives,” Hilliard says.
Although the Ruger model is legal in Texas, it is not legal in Colorado, where Kelley was listed as a resident on his license.
