Buffalo massacre survivors sue social media firms, shooter's parents, claiming emotional trauma
Aug. 17 (UPI) -- More than a dozen survivors of last year's massacre at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y., filed a pair of lawsuits claiming the shooter's parents, social media companies and multiple stakeholders within the gun supply chain enabled the killing of 10 people.
Both civil legal actions, filed Tuesday by the nonprofit group Everytown for Gun Safety, were brought in the State Supreme Court on behalf of 17 plaintiffs -- including customers, employees and relatives who witnessed the massacre and survived, but who say they continue to live with trauma more than a year after the attack.
Attorneys have not disclosed the amount of monetary damages being sought by 16 plaintiffs in the first case, who claim they continue to endure "acute fear, severe distress and the associated physiological effects of being traumatized," court papers said.
Many say they have been unable to return to work or resume a normal life.
"While I escaped without a bullet wound, the terror that the shooter inflicted on me and other survivors will live with us forever," Tops employee Fragrance Harris Stanfield said in a statement through her attorneys.
"It's my hope that this lawsuit can help to not only hold the individuals and entities accountable who allowed the shooter to carry out his racist rampage, but that we can also change the conversation around who constitutes a victim following tragedies like this one."
The second case has only one plaintiff -- Wayne D. Jones Sr. -- who lost his mother, Celestine Chaney in the shooting and was still struggling to cope 15 months later, he said.
"No one wants to go through these types of things, but the lawsuit is to prevent the next family from feeling like we're feeling," Jones said during a news conference at a church, where he held up a photo of his dead mom from the crime scene, showing her shot multiple times.
"I have to deal with this every day. My family has to deal with this every day."
Jones said his mother was at the store shopping for ingredients for strawberry shortcake when gunfire erupted. Jones has also said he witnessed his mother's death over Internet after the gunman live-streamed the shooting from a body camera.
"I watched him reload and shoot her again," he said.
The lawsuits come after another legal action in May filed by the families of three slain customers and one shooting survivor.
Most notably, the lawsuit targets YouTube and its parent companies Alphabet, as well as Google and Reddit, whose content allegedly radicalized 19-year-old Payton Gendron before he attacked the store on May 14, 2022.
He pleaded guilty in February to 10 counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder before he was sentenced to life in prison.
Court papers allege that Gendron's parents, Paul and Pamela Gendron, "failed to take any meaningful action, including investigating and/or seeking to preclude the shooter's access to guns."
Also named in the suit are the Broome County firearms store that provided the AR-15 style rifle used in the crime, as well as RMA Armament -- the manufacturer of the body armor the shooter wore when he opened fire.
The lawsuit claims the defendants in the case "facilitated and equipped the shooter for his racist attack," while accusing the social media companies of operating in a manner that was "unreasonable, dangerous and negligent" -- which allowed Gendron "to develop the mentality required to target and kill Black people."
