Newtown families name Bushmaster in wrongful death suit for Sandy Hook shootings

HARTFORD, Conn. -- The families of nine people killed in an attack on a Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school in 2012 filed a wrongful-death lawsuit on Monday against the company that manufactured the gun used in the attack, according to reports.

The suit named gunmaker Bushmaster, a distributor and the local retailer that sold the weapon used by 20-year-old gunman Adam Lanza to kill 20 first-graders and six teachers in a Dec. 14, 2012, attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Families of nine victims and a 10th person who was wounded filed the suit in state court, the Hartford Courant reported.

Bushmaster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Parents of the 11 children created estates for their lost loved ones: Charlotte Bacon, Danile Barden, Dylan Hockley, Jesse Lewis, Ana Marquez-Greene, James Mattioli, Grace McDonnell, Jack Pinto, Jessica Rekos, Avielle Richman and Benjamin Wheeler, according to the Hartford Courant. In setting up the estates the parents checked boxes saying they would be filing suits.

The statute of limitations on filing for wrongful death is two years against a person, according to Connecticut state law, but because the suit is against the gun manufacturer, they have three years to prepare the claim.

Lanza, who began the shooting spree by killing his mother at their home, ended his rampage by turning his gun on himself as he heard police approaching.