NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – A Brooklyn woman wounded in the mass shooting on the N train in April, plans to file a lawsuit in Brooklyn Federal Court on Tuesday against gunmaker Glock, which manufactured the gun used in the attack.
Ilene Steur, 49, was among the 10 people shot during the attack on the rush-hour train en route to the 36th Street station in Sunset Park. Her lawsuit claims the way Glock markets and distributes its guns is a “public nuisance” under state law and endangers public safety.
“They are the ones who put it out there for almost anybody to get — anyone can get a gun,” Steur told the Daily News. “Texas, Buffalo, an innocent little girl in the Bronx. Someone got shot and killed on the Q train ... There has to be better regulation."
The lawsuit comes after two recent mass shootings at a Buffalo grocery store and a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school. The latest number of gun injuries totaled 39,492 according to a seven-year review by the Gun Violence Archive.
The lawsuit states that Glock continues to market its guns even while aware that they are falling into the wrong hands, resulting in civilian injuries and deaths. The suit alleges that the company marketed to law enforcement and then built its brand by using the entertainment industry to promote its firearms to civilians.
“Glock and its distributors encourage police departments to make trade-ins earlier than necessary or originally planned so that they can sell more firearms to the police and sell the former police guns at a markup on the civilian market,” the lawsuit alleges, noting that James allegedly bought the Glock at a pawnshop in 2011.
The alleged shooter Frank James—who was said to have donned an MTA-like outfit during the shooting—was charged with carrying out a terrorist attack against a mass transit system and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
During the shooting, a bullet went through Steur’s left butt cheek. A woman near Steur then pulled her under the seats. She was taken to the New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where doctors told her that the bullet had fractured her sacrum bone, located at the base of her spine.
“I saw an empty seat and a man dressed like an MTA worker told me, ‘Don’t sit there,’ and I saw the seats were wet,” she told the Daily News. “I sat four or five seats away and then I heard someone yell, ‘Oh s--t, run!’”
Steur now has to wear a colostomy bag as she waits for her second major surgery. Her injuries make it hard for her to walk, stand and sit for long periods, Steur told the Daily News.
“The bullet ... ruptured my rectum, and the bullet is still there and it will be there for a long time,” Steur said. “They can’t take it out because I might bleed to death.”
She hopes to keep working from home when the pain subsides. “It’s helping to keep my mind off things.”
The suit is based on a New York state law signed by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in March 2021. Victims are able to seek to hold gunmakers accountable in court. The law states that about 75% of guns used in crimes in New York are bought out of state. Glock along with other gunmakers sued in Albany Federal Court to overturn the law, but Judge Mae D’Agostino dismissed charges.
The gunmakers plan to appeal.
“I don’t think I’ll ever go back on the train,” Steur said. “I don’t want to be in New York anymore. I’m scared.”
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