The family of 53-year-old Andre Mackneil, who was gunned down in a Buffalo, New York, supermarket after purchasing his 3-year-old son’s birthday cake, may go after a major gun manufacturer.
Mackneil’s daughters, Leandra Elliott and Deja Brown, have many questions regarding the suspect.
“We’re so confused. It’s like how did he get this weapon?” Brown told CBS News.
The sisters said they also blame the gun manufacturer. They have retained Buffalo attorneys John Elmore and Kristen Elmore-Garcia, who are investigating potential claims against Remington which, until 2020, produced the Bushmaster rifle allegedly used in the massacre.
“I reached out to the lawyer in Connecticut, Josh Koskoff, who had the only successful lawsuit against a gun manufacturer of an AR-15. He said that he would be willing to help,” Elmore told CBS News.
Elmore said they could go after Remington, if its Bushmaster was used, because “it is designed for the military, it is designed for war.”
Taking on this case is personal for Elmore. His father was shot in 1974 in the head and severely wounded while responding to a school shooting in upstate New York. Three people died.
But even if certain guns are banned, there are plenty of other options.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives released a report this week that found the number of firearms manufactured yearly in the U.S. has nearly tripled since 2000, soaring from under 4 million firearms to more than 11 million by 2020.
Brown, who met briefly with President Biden earlier this week when he visited victims’ families, said she told him she believes more guns in more hands is only part of the problem.
“I want people to understand that this happened and it should make you want to come together so we can stop it from happening again,” she said.
