Families of some Sandy Hook victims file suit against estate of shooter's mom and town
Last year, families of 9 victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting filed suit against the maker of the Bushmaster AR-15 rifle that Adam Lanza used in the massacre.
This year, many of the same families also sued the estate of Lanza’s mother and the school, reports the Hartford Courant.
Nancy Lanza was shot to death in her bed at the Newtown, Connecticut, home she shared with her son before he drove to the nearby school and killed 26 other people there on Dec. 14, 2012. She should have known that Adam Lanza’s “mental and emotional condition made him a danger to others,” two sets of related suits filed by eight plaintiffs allege. But instead of securing the military assault rifle so her son couldn’t get access it, she kept it in a gun safe to which the troubled 20-year-old had unlimited access, according to state police reports.
Adam Lanza shot himself to death with a handgun at the school, after killing 20 students and six adults. He had fired 155 rounds in five minutes.
In other recently filed litigation, the families of two victims name Newtown as a defendant, alleging that the substitute teacher in the classroom in which their children were fatally shot couldn’t lock the door because she hadn’t been given a key to it by the school.
The suits were filed in late January in state superior court in Bridgeport and Danbury, the Connecticut Media Group reports on its News Desk blog. Although Nancy Lanza’s estate reportedly was relatively minimal, she is believed to have had a $1 million insurance policy on the home.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Families of 9 school-shooting victims sue maker, seller of Bushmaster rifle used in Newtown massacre”
Reuters: “Town votes to demolish Sandy Hook killer’s Connecticut home”
