Website negligently sold ammunition to Santa Fe shooter, lawsuit alleges

AUSTIN — The teenager accused of gunning down classmates at Santa Fe High School in May 2018 ordered ammunition online from a Tennessee-based internet retailer that allegedly failed to check his age, plaintiffs’ lawyers for shooting victims say in a new filing.

Federal law restricts minors from possessing handgun ammunition. But Dimitrios Pagourtzis was 17 years old when he bought over 100 rounds of shotgun and handgun ammunition from luckygunner.com two months before the shooting that left 10 people dead, according to a lawsuit amended last week.

The filing offers new details about the closely held law enforcement investigation into the massacre. And it shines a light on the online market for ammunition.

Attorneys said Pagourtzis made the purchase without having to submit proof of age, and instead only had to check a “terms and conditions” box agreeing he was over 21.

“Selling ammunition online without verifying the customer’s age is an unacceptable business practice and shows an utter disregard for public safety,” said Eric Tirschwell, managing director of Everytown Law, the litigation arm of Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund. He is part of a legal team representing the family of Sabika Aziz Sheikh, an exchange student from Pakistan killed in the shooting.

Lucky Gunner denied wrongdoing.

“Contrary to the claims, our company complied with all laws in making the subject sale; the suspect committed many crimes to include deliberately misrepresenting himself,” the company said in a statement.

It’s not the first time a mass shooter has purchased ammunition online.

Patrick Crusius, 21, of Allen, the attacker accused of killing 22 people at a Walmart in El Paso last summer, reportedly bought 1,000 rounds of ammunition from Russia.

Guns bought online and shipped must be delivered through licensed gun stores that run background checks. But ammunition can be sent straight to a shopper’s door in Texas.

“It’s like buying anything else online,” said Adam Skaggs, chief counsel and policy director at Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

The parents of a woman killed in the massacre at an Aurora, Colo., movie theater sued several online retailers, including Lucky Gunner, that allegedly sold the attacker ammunition, tear gas and body armor. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2015.

A federal law from 2005 largely shields the gun industry from lawsuits where their products are alleged to have caused harm, Skaggs said. There are few exceptions, he said, and one is proving that a company knowingly violated the law in selling the product.

The new allegations are part of a lawsuit filed in Galveston County Court by family members of some of those killed or injured in the Santa Fe shooting.

The suit accuses Pagourtzis’ parents of negligence for failing to properly secure their guns and keep them out of their son’s hands. Officials have said he was armed with a shotgun and a .38-caliber revolver that belonged to his father.

Lucky Gunner was added as a defendant last week, along with its owners.

The filing alleges Pagourtzis purchased 50 rounds of handgun ammunition and 105 rounds of shotgun ammunition from the website in early March 2018. Roughly two weeks later, he ordered more shotgun rounds with a prepaid American Express gift card, the filing says.

Under federal law, licensed gun dealers cannot sell long gun ammunition to minors or handgun ammunition to those believed to be under age 21, the lawsuit says.

Pagourtzis, who is charged with capital murder, was moved to a state mental hospital in December after a judge ruled he was mentally incompetent to stand trial, the Associated Press reported.