In civil lawsuit, Ellison alleges Fleet Farm sold guns to straw purchasers

Nick Ferraro, Pioneer Press
Updated ·2 min read
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Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on Wednesday filed a civil lawsuit against Wisconsin-based retailer Fleet Farm for allegedly selling guns to straw purchasers, including a man who bought a 9mm handgun that was used in the deadly shooting at the Seventh Street Truck Park in St. Paul last October.

According to the 38-page civil complaint filed in Hennepin County District Court, Fleet Farm repeatedly sold handguns to straw purchasers — people who illegally purchase guns for others who cannot legally purchase guns themselves, such as those convicted of felonies or with a record of committing domestic violence.

The lawsuit alleges Fleet Farm sold at least 37 firearms to two straw purchasers over 16 months, often selling multiple guns either in single transactions or over short periods of time.

One of the guns Fleet Farm sold to 25-year-old Jerome Fletcher Horton Jr. of Minneapolis was fired on Oct. 10 at Seventh Street Truck Park, a shooting at the West Seventh Street bar that killed 27-year-old Marquisha Wiley of St. Paul and injured 14 other bystanders.

CHARGES: HANDGUN TRACED TO BLAINE STORE

ATF investigators traced the semiautomatic 9mm handgun found at the scene back to the Blaine Fleet Farm where it was purchased in July by Horton, according to federal charges against him.

Another gun Fleet Farm sold to Horton was found by a 6-year-old boy in front of his family’s South Minneapolis home on Sept. 6, 2021, Ellison said a Wednesday press conference announcing the lawsuit. The gun had been discarded by suspects who fled police following a shooting, he said.

At least five more guns that Fleet Farm sold to straw purchasers have been recovered from people who are not permitted to have them, the lawsuit alleges.

Most guns Fleet Farm sold to straw purchasers remain unrecovered, Ellison said.

“While law enforcement investigates and solves crime and local prosecutors prosecute crime, we all have a role to play in stopping gun trafficking and creating safer communities,” Ellison said. “For the first time in Minnesota, I’m using the power of the Attorney General’s office to hold a gun retailer accountable.”

LAWSUIT ASSERTS CLAIMS OF NEGLIGENCE

The lawsuit filed Wednesday in Hennepin County alleges that Fleet Farm ignored hallmark red flags and warning signs that certain buyers were straw purchasers and sold guns to these buyers anyway, rather than refusing sales as Fleet Farm should have done.

The lawsuit asserts claims against Fleet Farm for negligence, negligence per se, negligent entrustment, aiding and abetting and public nuisance.

In the lawsuit, Ellison asks for injunctive relief, including strengthened oversight of Fleet Farm’s operations and increased training to prevent sales of guns to straw purchasers, as well as monetary relief, including disgorgement of Fleet Farm’s profits from sales to straw purchasers.

Fleet Farm on Wednesday did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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