Sandra Torres, Mother Of Uvalde Shooting Victim Eliahna Torres, Sues Gun Manufacturer Daniel Defense, Gun Shop Oasis Outback, And State And Local Law Enforcement For Roles In Robb Elementary School Mass Shooting

Everytown Law Along with LM Law Group is Representing Sandra Torres, Whose 10-year-old Daughter, Eliahna Torres, was Murdered Along with Most of Her Fourth Grade Class at Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022

Suit Brings Claims Against Gun Manufacturer Daniel Defense; Oasis Outback, the Gun Shop that Transferred the Weapon to the Shooter; and the School District, City, County, and Individual Officers 

NEW YORK — Today, Everytown Law along with Texas law firm LM Law Group PLLC filed a lawsuit on behalf of Sandra Torres, the mother of Eliahna Torres, who was killed in the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas on May 24, 2022. The lawsuit names multiple defendants alleged to have enabled or exacerbated the shooting, including: 

1. Daniel Defense, the manufacturer of the weapon used;
2. Uvalde gun store Oasis Outback, where the firearm was transferred to the shooter;
3. The City of Uvalde, the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, and the County of Uvalde; and,
4. The Uvalde Police Department, the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Department, the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office, the Uvalde County Constables, and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

“Eliahna loved her family, and she knew how much we loved her,” said Sandra Torres, the mother of Eliahna Torres, who was killed in the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. “I miss her every moment of every day. I’ve brought this lawsuit to seek accountability. No parent should ever go through what I have.”

“The shooting in Uvalde was a horrific tragedy – and wholly preventable,” said Eric Tirschwell, executive director of Everytown Law. “The massacre that killed Eliahna Torres and 20 others that day wasn’t just an act of one violent, troubled young man armed with an assault rifle. There are several actors responsible for putting the gun in his possession and failing to protect the children he attacked. This lawsuit is intended to hold them accountable.”

“Our client has chosen to take her grief and turn it into action,” said David Lopez, principal of the LM Law Group, PLLC. “We’re honored to represent Sandra and her surviving children in their fight for transparency, accountability, and justice.”  

The lawsuit, filed by Everytown Law in coordination with LM Law Group, alleges that the shooter used a gun that was unfairly marketed by Daniel Defense in violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act and was negligently transferred to him by the Oasis Outback gun shop. The lawsuit also makes claims against law enforcement who are alleged to have violated the constitutional rights of the children and staff at Robb Elementary School – including claims relating to inadequate training about how and when to respond to an active shooter and the egregiously wrong decision to override clear active shooter protocols. 365 law enforcement officers were on site at the school in response to the shooting and not one attempted to stop the shooters, instead barricading students and teachers inside their classrooms with their killer for an unconscionable 77 minutes.

The lawsuit filed by Sandra Torres and her surviving children brings claims against: 

• Daniel Defense for its negligence in marketing and selling an AR-15-style rifle to the Uvalde shooter. The complaint alleges that Daniel Defense used militaristic imagery to target vulnerable and violent young men and to suggest that civilian consumers can use Daniel Defense weapons the way service members are sometimes asked to: to engage in offensive combat missions directed at other humans. Daniel Defense furthered this message and sought out their target audience, the lawsuit alleges, by using various social media platforms and touting their association with popular video games like Call of Duty. 
• Oasis Outback for negligent transfer and sale. Oasis Outback is a gun store located in Uvalde. The complaint alleges the store sold ammunition and a Smith & Wesson AR-15-style rifle to the shooter, and also transferred to the shooter the Daniel Defense rifle used in the shooting. They did this, the lawsuit alleges, despite numerous red flags (including that the shooter was in a big hurry to acquire thousands of dollars of firearms and ammunition within days of turning 18).
• The City of Uvalde, the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, and the County of Uvalde for their failure to train officers and for other constitutional violations. These claims stem from the law enforcement response and the complete failure to follow – and the egregious decisions to override – active shooter protocols. The result of law enforcement’s actions that day was to lengthen the time that children and teachers spent suffering and dying.
• Individual officers from the Uvalde Police Department, the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Department, the Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office, the Uvalde County Constables, and the Texas Department of Public Safety for violating the constitutional rights of the children and teachers by barricading them inside classrooms 111 and 112 with their killer for an unconscionable 77 minutes.

The Everytown Law team representing the plaintiffs includes Eric Tirschwell, Executive Director and Chief Litigation Counsel; Molly Thomas-Jensen, Deputy Director, Affirmative Litigation; Ryan Gerber, Counsel; and Laura Keeley, Litigation Fellow.