$27 billion class-action lawsuit in works for Uvalde mass shooting

UVALDE, Texas (KSAT) - A massive lawsuit was announced on behalf of those affected by the Robb Elementary School shooting.

The class-action suit is going after several law enforcement agencies as well as a gun manufacturer.

The lead attorney filing the suit, Charles Bonner, said they are fighting for justice and accountability.

“What we intend to do 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,” he said.

Bonner, a civil rights attorney, said he intends to file a class action lawsuit against anyone who can be held responsible for what happened inside of Robb Elementary on May 24.

“We have the school police, OK, out of Redondo. We have the city police, and we have the sheriff and we have the Texas Rangers, the DPS, and we have the Border Patrol,” he said, as well as gun manufacturer Daniel Defense and Oasis Outback, where the gunman bought the weapon used.

“There will be some institutional defendants, including the school board or the city council,” Bonner said.

He and his associate have been traveling to Uvalde from their California office for weeks - meeting with families at Pastor Daniel Myers’ church, Tabernacle of Worship.

“Up to right now, there’s been no accountability, there’s no justice for those 19 children and the two teachers,” Myers said.

The suit is being filed on constitutionality. Bonner said the victims, survivors and their families had their 14th Amendment rights violated.

“And what we’ve seen here is that the law enforcement agencies have shown a deliberate, conscious disregards of those lives,” he said.

Bonner’s law firm is taking on this class-action suit with a team of other firms, including a local Uvalde law office. It’s a big undertaking, one he said he believes is necessary to save lives.

“Everyone in this world (is) hurting and bleeding about what is happening here in Uvalde. And it’s up to us to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Bonner said.

The lawsuit is still being drafted. Bonner said it’ll be filed in September when the investigation into the shooting is done.