WAUPACA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A judge Friday dismissed a lawsuit filed by the family of a man who died by suicide after taking guns from his employer.
In December, 2020, Ryan Ames stole a handgun and ammunition from the Fleet Farm he worked at before returning home and shooting himself with the gun. Bruce and Bambi Ames say that while Ryan was employed at Fleet Farm, he was given “unfettered, unsupervised, and unmonitored access to firearms and ammunition.”
In the Waupaca County lawsuit, filed last December, the family says that the Midwest retailer negligently caused the death of their son by not properly securing or monitoring the guns.
Fleet Farm argued that under judicial public policy, “the defendant’s negligence is too remote from the injury to impose liability– incorporates the superseding cause doctrine, and the rule that suicide is a superseding cause.”
The store argued the store knew nothing of Ames’ plans, and couldn’t be held responsible for the gun theft or subsequent acts.
The case was before Waupaca County Judge Troy Nielsen Friday. Court records indicate he granted Fleet Farm’s motion to dismiss the case.
