Highland Park resident Liz Turnipseed and her husband took their daughter to the Fourth of July parade last year, expecting patriotic fun. What they weren't expecting was a mass shooting.
“I have a now-4-year-old, who’s a mass shooting survivor, who’s afraid of parades," Turnipseed said. “This is something that’s going to be with us for the rest of our lives.”
Her preschooler watched her mom getting shot in the pelvis—bleeding on the ground as bullets kept flying around them.
“My husband took her and said, “I’ll be back for you. And ran off with her to get her to safety and handed her to a stranger to take care of her and said, ‘I have to go back and get my wife, she’s been shot,” Liz recalled.
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Ari Scharg and his family heard the gunshots as they watched the 2022 parade about a block away from the gunman on a rooftop, who ultimately killed 7 and wounded 48 others.
“We just see a sea of people running straight towards us. And yeah, the kids were terrified. Picked them up. We ran,” Scharg said.
Scharg is an attorney with Edelson PC representing Liz Turnipseed in her lawsuit against the manufacturer who made the gun used in the shooting.
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“Their marketing and advertising is unlawful,” Ari said.
The lawsuit alleges Smith & Wesson of “unlawfully marketing” its M&P 15 semi-automatic assault rifle - the one the Highland Park shooter used.
“These campaigns contribute to mass shootings. They encourage mass shootings and we want these advertising campaigns to end,” Scharg added.
The lawsuit accuses Smith & Wesson of “targeting impulsive young men” in its social media advertisements aimed at video gamers like the Highland Park suspect.
“Smith & Wesson is trying to capitalize on their interest and love for playing these games by offering them the real-life weapons that they’re using to kill people in these games,” Scharg said.
NBC 5 Investigates reached out to Smith & Wesson, but did not receive a response.
“They definitely have a case,” said Heidi Li Feldman a law professor at Georgetown University Law Center.
Feldman said the 2005 federal law called the ‘"Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act" mostly shields gunmakers from lawsuits—unless they violate consumer protection laws.
“It’s a serious case and Smith & Wesson must be taking it seriously. It’s coming on the heels of the Sandy Hook litigation,” Feldman said.
The families of the Sandy Hook school massacre received a $73 million settlement in 2022 after suing Remington for how it advertised its weapon used in that shooting.
Remington did not admit any liability.
“You have to argue that the manufacturer’s marketing campaign has been unethical, deceptive against public policy,” Feldman noted.
The Highland Park lawsuit cites the "Illinois Consumer Fraud Act" to argue that Smith & Wesson “deceptively and unlawfully markets its military style assault rifle.”
“They’re blurring the line between the virtual world and reality,” Scharg said.
The CEO of Smith & Wesson refused to testify at a July 27, 2022, congressional hearing on gun violence.
“Mr. Smith promised he would testify but then went back on his word, perhaps because he didn’t want to take the responsibility for the death and destruction his company has caused,” said Rep. Carolyn B Maloney, chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform.
The committee chairwoman wrote in a letter “Smith & Wesson markets its assault rifle with advertisements that mimic first-person shooter video games popular with children.”
President and CEO Mark Smith responded in August 2022 to the committee’s subpoena request saying it was an “unprecedented and unjustified attack on the firearm industry.”
“They knew how deadly this weapon was. It was designed to go to war, literally. They’ve taken it and they saw an opportunity to try to brand and make some money,” Turnipseed said. “They continue to do that and there needs to be some sort of responsibility.”
The lawsuit is one of 12 lawsuits against Smith & Wesson filed by Highland Park families.
