CONCORD, N.H., March 27, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — There is no end in sight to the wave of litigation spurred by gunmaker Sig Sauer’s dangerously defective P320 pistol. Attorneys from Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky yesterday filed the latest negligence and product liability lawsuit (B. Anderson v. Sig Sauer, USDC, New Hampshire,No.1:22-cv-00536-JL) against the company on behalf of 22 of the gun’s users – more than half members of law enforcement – whose P320s unintentionally fired. The plaintiffs hail from 16 states and are among over 100 individuals represented by the Firm who have been injured – including one who died -by the New Hampshire-based firearms manufacturer’s product.
Over nearly 150 pages, the complaint chronicles the dangerous and deadly history of the P320 dating back nearly one decade. It states, “Sig Sauer has been aware of claims that P320 unintended discharges have killed users,” adding that “the vast majority of these users are law enforcement officers, former military personnel, and/or highly trained and practiced gun owners.” Many of the plaintiffs in the filing, the fourth mass action complaint related to the P320, are current or former firearms instructors.
Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky attorney Robert Zimmerman, lead counsel in the litigation, stated “This is the latest filing, but unfortunately far from the last. We allege based upon documentary evidence that Sig knowingly designed and manufactured America’s most dangerously-defective firearm, making it prone to uncommanded firing. Sig refuses to do what’s right – take responsibility and once and for all make its deadly product as safe as the guns produced by its competitors.” He added, “This filing highlights that Sig Sauer’s latest P320 PR campaign is nothing more than an attempt to distract from a problem that is now 10 years in the making. Law enforcement departments have discontinued their use of this dangerous gun. User-victims are being shot by P320s when their hands aren’t even on the gun. This all can “end today” if Sig stops blaming the victims and recalls the P320 once and for all.” The Firm’s local counsel is Attorney Benjamin T King, of Concord-based Douglas, Leonard & Garvey, P.C.
Attorney Ryan Hurd from the Firm stated, “Sig’s recent rhetoric flies in the face of the truth and is an insult to their own customers who’ve been shot and seriously injured by a gun that fires when their hands aren’t even touching it. Sig’s own corporate designee admitted under oath that the company distributed false statements to its customers about the P320. That’s an admission Sig would rather ignore.”
Attorney Samuel Haaz from the Firm added, “Multi-million dollar jury verdicts from Georgia to Pennsylvania speak for themselves; but instead of accepting those verdicts Sig attacks the plaintiffs and their attorneys. All of this could have been avoided if Sig put the safety of its users first.”
The complaint notes that in every unintended firing caused by the defective P320, the owner-plaintiff was highly trained in the safe use of firearms. In every instance the plaintiff had no intention of firing their weapon when it discharged. And in every case the plaintiffs suffered, and continue to suffer, life-altering injuries. The complaint seeks unspecified compensatory and enhanced damages that will be determined at trial. The individual victims – each of their incidents is described in the filing – are from: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin. They include:
- Officer Bernard Anderson, Oak Park Police Department, Michigan, was injured on May 10, 2023, while participating in department range training when a fellow officer’s service-issued P320 suddenly and unexpectedly discharged from within his holster, causing the round to strike the ground and then Officer Anderson.
- Bryan Scott-Williams, a contractor in Breckenridge, Colorado, with extensive firearms experience, was shot by his P320 on April 1, 2023, while the P320 was secured in the Sig Sauer branded and supplied holster outside his waistband. The round traveled the length of his right thigh and through his knee causing permanent damage.
- Agent Joshua Brent, Department of Homeland Security, Tucson, Arizona, was injured by his service-issued P320 on July 10, 2024, when it discharged from within his holster after he shifted in the seat of his vehicle. He was not touching the gun or the holster. The round struck Agent Brent’s right leg and went through his knee. The shell casing failed to eject from the gun.
- Officer Vincent Panico, High Point Police Department, North Carolina, and a Marine Corps veteran, was shot by his holstered P320 on April 24, 2023, as he reached into his police vehicle to retrieve a bag. His arms were extended in front of him when his P320 discharged into his right leg and exited above his knee.
- Detective Mark Cunard, Camden County Prosecutor’s Office, New Jersey, was shot by his holstered P320 on October 10, 2024, as he was walking to his vehicle. He was not touching his P320 when it discharged a round into his right thigh; it traveled down his leg and exited out of his knee.
- Officer Yang Lee, Milwaukee Police Department, Wisconsin, experienced a fully holstered unintentional discharge on September 10, 2022, as he searched a suspect’s vehicle. The round struck Officer Laskey-Castle, Officer Lee’s partner, who was standing behind Officer Lee. Several other officers in the Milwaukee P.D. experienced similar incidents with the P320 leading the Fraternal Order of Police to plead with police departments to replace all the department’s P320s with a different pistol.
- Randall Farrior Jr., Fort Worth, Texas, a U.S. Air Force veteran, was shot by his holstered P320 on November 1, 2023, after he fully holstered the P320 in a retention holster. The bullet struck his right leg where the bullet was lodged until surgically removed.
- Lieutenant Thomas McMillan, a 43-year veteran of the Forsyth, Georgia Police Department, was shot by his holstered P320 while at the range on May 4, 2023. The bullet tore a 6-inch channel through his right thigh before entering his foot, shattering metatarsal bones.
Contacts:
Robert W. Zimmerman/ rzimmerman@smbb.com / 215-575-3898
Steph Rosenfeld / steph@idadvisors.com / 215-514-4101
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/14e3b661-a940-4f79-8814-6c43e7029890
