Minnesota-based Scheels sued over man's suicide by gun

MINNEAPOLIS (CN) — The mother of a man who killed himself inside a Minnesota sporting goods store claims in a lawsuit filed Monday that the store should have known not to give him a gun.

In the lawsuit, Sarah Van Bogart says an employee of Scheels All Sports, Inc., gave her 19-year-old son Jordan Markie a handgun with no safety locking device and without first checking his identification to see if he was 21 years old, the minimum age in Minnesota to purchase a handgun.

“This is a very both foreseeable and preventable tragedy that happened and Jordan should be here today,” Alla Lefkowitz, managing director of affirmative litigation at Everytown Law, which represents Van Bogart, said in an interview.

Suicide by firearm is a leading cause of death in the United States and in Minnesota, 57% of firearm deaths among children and teens are due to suicide, according to data compiled by EveryTown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit gun control advocacy group.

“What really struck me about this case, is that Scheels is advertised as a family-friendly store,” Lefkowitz said. “There’s a toy section, I think there’s a Ferris wheel in this store. There were kids in this store and you have to be engaged in some type of safeguard to make sure that your customers are safe.”

Lefkowitz said that other sporting goods stores have implemented safety procedures regarding customers and firearms, including attaching trigger locks, recognizing signs of distress in potential customers and checking for IDs to ensure their compliance with state law.

“(Scheels) just handed him a fully operational handgun,” Lefkowitz said, adding the case is cut and dry. “I feel pretty confident that both a judge and jury will see that.”

In a statement Monday, Van Bogart painted her son as kind, artistic and full of empathy and compassion for others.

“Far too many mothers share my pain. Too many families share an empty chair at the kitchen table because of suicide by firearm," she said. “Jordan should have never been handed that gun, let alone an unlocked weapon just steps away from accessible ammunition. My son should be alive today. I want to hold Scheels accountable to make sure no mother experiences a similar tragedy in the future.”

According to the complaint, Markie rode his bike to Scheels’ Eden Prairie location on Aug. 22, 2022, where surveillance footage captured Markie looking confused while he walked in and out of the store.

Video footage also showed Markie walking around the store and apparently testing to see if the store’s gun cabinets were locked.

During this time, Markie requested to look at a Taurus G2C 9mm handgun. Scheels employee and defendant William Ballantyne handed Markie the gun without asking for ID, removing the magazine or securing the firearm with a disabling device like a trigger lock.

Markie then ran off with the gun and loaded it with one round before taking his own life.

“Customers, including young children, ran upon hearing the shot fired. Man, three young children, and dog stumbled upon Jordan’s body in an attempt to run and hide from the sound of the shot. Upon encountering Jordan’s body, the family ran in the opposite direction,” Van Bogart says in her complaint.

She claims the store has a history of stolen firearms and that Markie had stolen ammunition from the store twice before.

“This is a case about Scheels putting profits over people. It is about corporate responsibility. It is about following rules. Scheels needs to be held accountable for its negligent conduct in this case,” Jay Pederson of the law firm FullerWallner, which also represents Van Bogart, said in a statement Monday.

Lawyers for Scheels did not respond to a request for comment before press time.

Van Bogart filed the lawsuit in Hennepin County District Court. She seeks over $50,000 in compensatory damages on claims of negligent entrustment and wrongful death.

If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988, or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK). Visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources.