A jury awarded two Milwaukee police officers with $6 million on Tuesday after they were shot and wounded by a gun that was purchased illegally from a suburban gun store.
The Milwaukee jury decided the store was negligent in allowing a 21-year-old man to buy a semi-automatic pistol on behalf of an 18-year-old, who couldn’t purchase a gun legally. The younger man later shot and severely wounded two Milwaukee police officers.
The officers’ attorney, Patrick Dunphy, said it might take years for his clients to see the $6 million that the jury awarded them.
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“Come on, this is the gun industry,” Dunphy said. “Of course, there’s going to be an appeal.”
Indeed, one of the lawyers for the gun store issued a statement saying an appeal is coming. The attorney said the judge in the civil trial decided significant legal issues in a way that affected the evidence the jury was allowed to consider and legal standards the panel was told to apply.
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