Shamberg, Johnson & Bergman filed suit against Walmart on behalf of the families of William Corporon and Reat Underwood, a grandfather, and grandson who was shot and killed April 13, 2014, at the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park, Kan. Following a federal investigation into the purchase of a Remington shotgun used in the shootings, the suits contend that a Walmart store in Republic, Mo., was negligent and failed to follow laws designed to prevent the straw purchase of firearms.
The shooter in April 13, 2014, Frazier Glenn Cross, Jr., was a notorious white supremacist and convict who could not lawfully purchase firearms. Four days before the shooting, Cross went to the Walmart store with a friend. After selecting the Remington to purchase, Cross told a salesperson that he did not have his identification on him, so Cross offered that his friend would buy the shotgun. This should have prompted the salesperson to refuse the sale because the friend was not the intended actual purchaser of the weapon. Instead, Walmart allowed the sale to proceed and processed federal firearm purchase forms identifying the friend as the intended actual purchaser.
Coss used the Remington shotgun to shoot and kill William and Reat in William’s pickup truck as Reat was getting ready to enter the Jewish Community Center for a singing competition.
The cases, filed by Lynn R. Johnson, David R. Morantz, and Paige L. McCreary, seek to hold retailers responsible for following long-established laws designed to prevent guns from ending up in the hands of dangerous criminals.
The Corporon family asks that people remember the vibrant lives that William and Reat enjoyed, and, by doing so, that people help create a wave of positive change for the future. For more information about William and Reat, and about the Faith Always Wins Foundation that honors their memories, please visit givesevendays.org.