Online Gun Dealer Sued Over Brookfield Spa Deaths

A lawsuit has been filed against the online gun sales site that helped sell a weapon used to kill three women in Brookfield in 2012.

The man who shot his wife and two others at a beauty spa, and later killed himself, had purchased the handgun from a Cedarburg resident, through a gun sales website. A relative of the wife has now filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the seller and the website. The shooter couldn’t legally own a gun because of a restraining order.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett often mentions the case as an example of private gun sellers not having to run background checks. Barrett said he hopes other online sellers are watching.

“Just as we saw last week with the verdict against the gun dealer, I think this is something that is going to make people and businesses, at least I hope, more careful,” he said.

Barrett was referring to a Milwaukee gun dealer being found negligent for selling a firearm used by an underage friend of the buyer to shoot two police officers.