SAN DIEGO — The United States is facing several lawsuits over the wrongful death of a 24-year-old Navy Hospital Corpsperson in 2018.
Devon Rideout was ambushed and shot to death by a former Marine who was by law forbidden from buying firearms.
This week, a U.S. District Judge denied the federal government's motion to dismiss the lawsuit, meaning the case can move forward in court.
The attorneys handling the case say the tragedy could have been preventable if the U.S. government had done its job. Now, nearly five years since Rideout's death, her mother is seeking to hold the federal government accountable.
“He had no right to buy a gun," said Leslie Wood, mother of the victim.
Wood is seeking justice for her daughter’s death.
“She would be alive today if...she would be alive today if not for the negligence," she added.
Devon Rideout, who was 24 years old at the time, worked at a medical facility at Camp Pendleton.
In 2018, she had just gotten home from work and was walking her dog when she was ambushed by Eduardo Arriola, a former marine with a long history of mental illness.
“Under fed and state law he was forbidden from purchasing a gun legally," said the attorney representing Wood, Eugene Iredale.
Arriola was discharged from the military after he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and was declared mentally incompetent.
The military failed to submit the shooter’s criminal history to the FBI’s background check system which ensures that disqualified persons cannot buy firearms.
“Because of failings of the fed and state gov there was a never a stop made to that purchase," said Iredale.
“If the Department of Defense and the Marines had done their job, Eduardo Arriola would’ve never gotten a gun. Devon would be alive today," said attorney, Grace Jun.
Arriola purchased the gun used in the shooting from Iron Sights Shooting Range, a gun store in Oceanside. Weeks later, he would use it to shoot Devon a total of five times. She died only steps away from her apartment.
“The guns store complied properly with the law," added Ireland.
Arriola told police he’d killed her because she was trespassing.
Officers later found a list of names inside Arriola’s car, including Devon’s name and the words ‘R.I.P’ written on it.
“There are major unnecessary failings in the Department of Defense and its failures to comply with its obligations under the law," said Iredale.
'Moms Demand Action' and 'San Diegans For Gun Violence Prevention', two local gun safety groups stood with Leslie Wood in a show of support.
This is not the first time that the government and the military fails to input critical information into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, the database where by law, agencies are supposed to enter criminal history into.
In November 2017, in Sutherland Springs, Texas, an Air Force veteran convicted of assault purchased two firearms and used them to kill 26 people and wound more than a dozen more.
In 2015, white supremacist Dylan Roof was able to purchase a firearm used to kill nine people inside a church in Charleston, South Carolina.
Wood and the attorneys in the case are calling for an institutional commitment by the Department of Justice and Department of Defense to accept responsibility. They are also calling on the federal government to comply with the law and correct their practices.
Arriola was convicted in the killing of Rideout and is serving 50 years to life in prison.
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