Mother of Uvalde Shooting Victim Files Lawsuit Against School District, Police, Gun Store, and Gun Manufacturer

Sandra Torres holds a photo of her daughter Eliahna at her attorney's office in San Antonio on Nov. 28, 2022. Eric Gay/AP Photo

The mother of a 10-year-old girl killed in the Uvalde school shooting has filed a lawsuit against the school district, law enforcement officers, a gun manufacturer, and the store where the weapon was purchased.

Sandra Torres’ daughter Eliahna was one of 19 children and two teachers who died during the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in May. Police officers were inside the school within two minutes after Salvador Ramons entered the school but waited 77 minutes to confront the 18-year-old male inside the fourth-grade classroom.

“Eliahna did not make it out of classroom 111. She was killed. Her family’s world was destroyed. Uvalde will never be the same,” reads the federal lawsuit. (pdf)

“Ramos remained in the connected classrooms for a total of 77 minutes from the beginning of his murderous rampage to the end, before police entered. For more than an hour, hundreds of peace officers from dozens of agencies stood idly by in the hallways as children in the classroom bled, died, call 911 for help, and hid under tables,” the 76-page lawsuit continued.

Multiple defendants are accused of enabling or exacerbating the deadliest school shooting in Texas history.

“The shooting Uvalde was a horrific tragedy — and wholly preventable,” executive director of Everytown Law Eric Tirschwell said in a joint press release. “The massacre that killed Eliahna Torres and 20 others that wasn’t just an act of one violent, troubled man armed with an assault rifle. There are several actors responsible for putting the gun in his possession and failing to protect the children he attacked. This lawsuit is intended to hold them accountable.”

Police officers stand outside the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 25, 2022, after a teen in body armor marched into the school and killed 19 children and two teachers. Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images

Among the defendants named are Daniel Defense, manufacturer of the weapon used in the shooting; Oasis Outback, a hunting and outdoor store where the firearm was purchased; the city of Uvalde; County of Uvalde; Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District; Uvalde Police Department; Uvalde CISD Police; Uvalde County Sheriff’s Office; Uvalde Constables, and the Texas Department of Public Safety.

The lawsuit alleges the actions of law enforcement officers that day prolonged the amount of time children and teachers spent suffering and dying.

Eliahna’s Last Day

On May 24, Torres, a fleet driver, left for work around 4 a.m. to drive her route. When Eliahna woke at about 7:20 a.m., she called her mother. They spoke about the young girl’s final softball game of the season that was to be played that evening. Eliahna told her mother she was nervous about making the all-star team.

Before hanging up, the 4th-grader told her mother, “I love you so much,” according to the document. Those were the last words Torres heard from her daughter.

“Eliahna loved her family, and she knew how much we loved her,” Sandra Torres said in a joint press release. “I miss her every moment of every day. I’ve brought this lawsuit to seek accountability. No parent should ever go through what I have.”

A makeshift memorial at Robb Elementary School is filled with flowers, toys, signs, and crosses bearing the names of all 21 victims of the mass shooting that occurred on May 24, in Uvalde, Texas, on May 27, 2022. Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times

Oasis Outback, where the shooter allegedly bought the rifle and ammunition used in the shooting, is accused of ignoring red flags, including Ramos’ desire to buy “thousands of dollars of firearms and ammunition within days of turning 18.”

The lawsuit accuses Daniel Defense, the manufacturer of the shooter’s weapon, of directing its marketing toward young, isolated, troubled, and violent demographics and furthering its message of militaristic imagery via social media, and placing its products in the video game, Call of Duty.

Gunmakers are typically immune under federal law from lawsuits involving crimes committed with their products but families of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting secured a $73 million settlement after suing Remington, the maker of the weapon used in the massacre, according to the AP.

Torres is represented by Everytown Law and LM Law Group.

“Our client has chosen to take her grief and turn it into action,” David Lopez, principal of LM Law Group, said. “We’re honored to represent Sandra and her surviving children in their fight for transparency, accountability, and justice.”

Uvalde CISD said it could not comment on pending litigation.

“There are no words to adequately express our deepest condolences to all the families who lost a loved one on May 24. Uvalde CISD cannot comment on or provide information about pending litigation. As a district, we focus on supporting our students and their families as we continue to navigate these unprecedented times,” Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District told The Epoch Times in a statement.

The Uvalde Police Department, Oasis Outback, and Daniel Defense did not immediately return requests for comment.