Ross Feller Casey Sues Walmart For Illegal Sale Of Ammo Used In Killings

Ross Feller Casey has filed a major lawsuit against Walmart alleging the retail giant illegally sold an intoxicated and underage man ammunition that was used in a shooting spree that killed three people in the Lehigh Valley.

The suit alleges that in early July, a Philadelphia-area Walmart cashier sold Robert Jourdain, 20, a box of .38 caliber ammunition without determining he was 21 – the legal age required to purchase the bullets. The suit also alleges that Jourdain was visibly intoxicated when he purchased the ammunition in the wee hours after the Fourth of July, and that that should have been a red flag to Walmart not to sell the ammunition to him.

Within an hour of buying the bullets, three people were shot multiple times and killed on the streets of Allentown and Easton, Pennsylvania.

Todd West, Jourdain’s cousin who was waiting in the car while the ammunition was purchased, was charged with the shootings as well as four other recent homicides.

The suit was filed in Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas by Matt Casey, a founding partner of Ross Feller Casey, on behalf of the families of the three people who were killed July 5.

Walmart, the store’s general manager, the sporting goods manager and a cashier are defendants in the case.

The defendants failed to employ "any precautions, investigation or basic questioning to define (Jourdain’s) age” and “knew or should have known that (he) intended or was likely to use the bullets to kill other persons or to create an unreasonable risk of harm to others and the general public," according to the lawsuit.

The Huffington Post ran a story about the lawsuit and noted that the shootings are part of a larger national debate on gun violence that prompted President Obama this week to issue an executive order expanding the background check process for gun buyers and tightening restrictions for firearm dealers. Read the story below: