Exactly two years after the Uvalde school massacre, families of the victims filed multiple state lawsuits in California and Texas against social media giant Meta, Activision — the maker of the popular video game “Call of Duty” — and Daniel Defense, the manufacturer of the AR-15 used in the shooting.
These wrongful death lawsuits come just two days after the same 19 families reached a $2 million settlement with the city of Uvalde over the May 24, 2022, Robb Elementary School massacre, which claimed the lives of 19 students and two teachers.
One lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court against both Activision and Meta, Instagram’s parent company. The second lawsuit, against Daniel Defense, was filed in Uvalde District Court. Attorney Josh Koskoff, who also represented the families in the $2 million settlement, is handling these lawsuits.
The lawsuits claim that Instagram, Activision, and Daniel Defense were “partnering in a scheme that preys upon insecure, adolescent boys,” according to a news release from the attorneys. They allege that Meta and Activision “enabled and emboldened firearm manufacturers’ efforts to expand the market for their weapons by granting unprecedented, direct, and 24/7 access to children.”
The lawsuits argue that the gunman bought the AR-15 used in the Uvalde shooting on his 18th birthday because he was “targeted and cultivated online by Instagram, Activision, and Daniel Defense.” Koskoff stated that these companies knowingly exposed him to the weapon, conditioned him to see it as a problem-solving tool, and trained him to use it.
The lawsuits detail that the gunman downloaded “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” in November 2021 and had been playing previous versions of “Call of Duty” since he was 15. The video game prominently features a model of the AR-15, the DDM4V7, which was used in the shooting.
“On Instagram, the shooter was being courted through explicit, aggressive marketing,” the attorneys said. They claim that Daniel Defense used Instagram to promote the illegal, murderous use of its weapons, and that the shooter created an account with Daniel Defense on April 27, 2022, and added a DDM4V7 to his online cart. He purchased the weapon just 23 minutes after midnight on his 18th birthday, eight days before the Uvalde shooting.
Koskoff told CBS News that the two lawsuits “work in concert with each other.” He criticized Instagram for allowing the promotion of weapons while preventing other types of content.
An Activision spokesperson expressed sympathy for the victims but defended the gaming industry, stating that millions enjoy video games without resorting to violence. CBS News has reached out to Meta and Daniel Defense for comment on the litigation.
Additionally, the families announced a $500 million federal lawsuit against nearly 100 state police officers involved in the botched response to the shooting, as well as former Robb Elementary School principal Mandy Gutierrez and Pete Arredondo, the school district’s police chief who was fired after the incident. A 575-page Justice Department report cited “cascading failures” in the law enforcement response, noting that 77 minutes elapsed from the time officers arrived until the suspect was confronted and killed.
