Families of victims in mass shooting at Louisville bank may sue gun seller, judge rules

Families of victims of a mass shooting at a Louisville bank in 2023 may proceed with their lawsuit against a firearms dealer who sold the shooter a semi-automatic rifle and accessories, a judge in Louisville has ruled. 

Jefferson Circuit Judge Mitch Perry in a Monday order denied attempts by defendants to dismiss the case, writing that the case arose “from one of the worst acts of mass violence this community has ever experienced.” 

“The court is required to take the allegations in the complaint as true and view the record in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs. That is what this court has done here,” Perry wrote in his order. “As such, the litigation may continue in the ordinary course.” 

Six people died, including the shooter, and eight people were injured in April 2023 at Old National Bank in downtown Louisville. The shooter was an employee of the bank. One of the eight people injured, Louisville police officer Nickolas Wilt, was shot in the head while responding to the shooting. Wilt left a rehabilitation facility months later as he was recovering from his injury. 

Families of the victims brought a lawsuit in early 2024 against River City Firearms, the gun store that sold the shooter an AR-15, and against companies that manufactured accessories sold to the shooter at the store which included large-capacity magazines, a red-dot sight and a vertical grip for the rifle. 

Plaintiffs alleged employees of the firearms store should have noticed suspicious and erratic behavior of the shooter, who bought the weapon days before the shooting. The plaintiffs further alleged the manufacturers of the firearm accessories incentivize gun stores to upsell customers in a way “that places profits over safety.” 

Defendants had argued the lawsuit should have been dismissed because a federal law bars the plaintiffs claims from being heard. Congress has enacted the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), which protects firearms manufacturers, dealers and distributors from being held liable for crimes committed with their products.

Perry disagreed with those arguments in his order. 

“The plaintiffs here have carefully crafted their complaint to avoid the protections of the PLCAA,” Perry wrote. 

Tad Thomas, an attorney representing some of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, in an emailed statement provided through a public relations associate, said on the morning of the shooting, “many families lost loved ones, and other members of our Louisville community suffered lifelong injuries.”

“The court’s decision today puts us one step closer to holding the wrongdoers responsible for the tragedy they caused and making Louisville a safer place to live,” Thomas said.

A request for comment sent to counsel representing RSR Group, one of the defendants, was not immediately returned Tuesday afternoon.

This story has been updated with a statement from Tad Thomas.