BUFFALO, N.Y. — Attorneys representing a 5/14 victim's family and several Tops employees and customers on Wednesday announced the filing of two more lawsuits associated with the mass shooting.
These are civil lawsuits and they are similar to the first two already filed by other family members and survivors. We heard from several people about why filing this lawsuit is so important to them.
Wayne Jones lost his mother Celestine Chaney on May 14, 2022, when a racist gunman killed her at Tops.
"The lawsuit is to stop the next family from feeling like we're feeling, and I have to deal with this every day. My family has to deal with this every day. As you might not know, I found out that my mom had passed away on the internet, so that's part of the lawsuit," Jones said.
On Wednesday, attorneys representing Jones, his family, and 16 survivors of the shooting, including Tops employees and customers, announced the filing of two lawsuits on their behalf against the gun lock manufacturer, the company that made and sold the body armor, the gun store, several social media companies, and the shooter's parents.
"I didn't have to be shot to wonder why I'm still standing here in front of you today, and I shouldn't have had to die for my family to get some assistance. And I shouldn't have to beg, and I shouldn't have to plead, and I shouldn't have to constantly explain why I need help, but that's what my life is like," survivor Fragrance Harris Stanfield said.
The attorneys say the goals of the lawsuits are to hold the companies and people they say enabled the shooter accountable, and to set new legal standards recognizing survivors for the trauma they've endured.
The lawsuit does not say how much money they want.
NBC News reached out to the defendants in the lawsuit and only heard back from YouTube which released a statement saying in-part, "YouTube has invested in technology, teams, and policies to identify and remove extremist content. We regularly work with law enforcement, other platforms, and civil society to share intelligence and best practices."
The attorneys say it is possible that all four civil cases could be combined. They told us Wednesday afternoon that they expect it to take years to go through the court system.