A California-based attorney has sent notice of the class action to the Uvalde Consolidated School District, and is planning to file additional claims against local and state-level law enforcement agencies.
A California-based law firm representing victims of the Uvalde mass shooting have served the local school district with notice of a multibillion-dollar class action lawsuit.
According to The Texas Tribune, attorney Charles Bonner of Bonner & Bonner served the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District with notice of the claim shortly after a school board meeting on Monday.
Bonner is seeking up to $27 billion in compensation for the victims and their family members.
“What we intend to do [is] to help serve this community, and that is to file a $27 billion civil rights lawsuit under our United States Constitution, one-of-a-kind in the whole world,” Bronner said.
“We want this amount of money to compensate these people for this wrong that was parachuted upon them,” Bonner told ABC News.
The lawsuit cites findings from a Texas House committee report that investigated the mass shooting, as well as local law enforcement’s response. The report, published last month, found that “systemic failures and egregious poor decision making” contributed to the shooter’s ability to enter a classroom at Robb Elementary School and remain inside while police remained outside, refusing to breach the premises.
Bonner said that he also seeks to recover damages from the law enforcement agencies present outside of Robb Elementary during the shooting, as well as Daniel Defense, the manufacturer of the AR-15-style firearm used by the gunman.
“We have the school police, okay, Arredondo, we have the city police, and we have the sheriffs, and we have the Texas Rangers, the [Department of Public Safety], and we have the Border Patrol,” Bonner told KSAT.
“People have the right to life under the 14th Amendment, and what we’ve seen here is the law enforcement agencies have shown a deliberate, conscious disregard for the life [sic],” Bonner added.
Bonner said that the lawsuit will likely include other defendants, too.
“There will be some institutional defendants as well, such as the school board or such as the City Council or such as the City of Uvalde,” he said.
While Bonner has only served notice of the lawsuit and hopes to reach a resolution without taking further action, the attorney said that he is prepared to file the class action in September if Uvalde is unable or unwilling to negotiate.
The Texas Tribune notes that Bonner said the claim intends to establish a medical monitoring fund to pay for counseling for those affected by the shooting, as well as additional compensation for the massacre’s victims.
While the prospective lawsuit only includes nine families as plaintiffs, Bonner says he expects the size of the class to grow.
“The theme of this invitation to negotiate is accountability, responsibility and justice, and that’s what we want for everyone in that class,” Bonner said. “We will leave no victim behind.”
KSAT reports that Bonner is still drafting the lawsuit, and expects to file additional claims before formally proceeding with the complaint.
“Everyone in this world are hurting and bleeding [sic] about what is happening here in Uvalde,” he said. “And it’s up to us to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Sources
$27 billion class action lawsuit announced for Uvalde victims and survivors
Uvalde families poised to file $27 billion lawsuit over mass shooting
Uvalde school district to face $27 billion class action lawsuit
Victims and survivors of Uvalde shooting to file $27 billion lawsuit
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