Shop that sold gun in Oxford school shooting named in suit

WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (AP) — The parents of a teenager wounded during a mass shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan are suing the shop that sold the handgun used to kill four students and injure six other people.

The complaint filed Tuesday in federal court in Detroit on behalf of Matthew and Mary Mueller accuses Acme Shooting Goods LLC of negligently or unlawfully supplying the gun through a straw sale.

Authorities have said James Crumbley bought the 9 mm semiautomatic handgun used in the Nov. 30 shooting as an early Christmas gift for his son, Ethan, who was 15 at the time.

The lawsuit says Ethan accompanied his father to Acme Shooting Goods several days before the shooting and “engaged in behavior or made one or more statements while in the store which further indicated that the Acme gun was intended for” Ethan.

Acme Shooting Goods was obligated to train, supervise and monitor employees to identify and prevent so-called “straw purchases,” according to the lawsuit.

A straw purchase is when a person buys a gun to sell or give to someone prohibited from having one.

An employee at the gun shop in Lapeer declined to comment on the lawsuit Wednesday.

The Muellers' son suffered gunshot wounds to a hand and his face. He was one of six students and one teacher wounded in the shooting at the school, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Detroit.

Ethan Crumbley, now 16, has been charged as an adult with murder and terrorism and faces trial in January. James Crumbley and his wife, Jennifer, are accused of providing their son with access to the gun and are awaiting trial for involuntary manslaughter.

“Gun dealers, when they enter the business of selling guns, assume a duty to comply with all standards of reasonable care and all relevant state and/or federal firearms...