He reached a tree before being shot twice more, then emptied his own magazine at the gunmen. Live TV pictures from heli- copter news teams captured the 40-minute gun battle. There were 17 police and civilian casualties; 32 officers fired their weapons, at least 2,000 shots were exchanged.Outgunned police at one point commandeered weapons from a local gun store Bullets pumped into Officer Whitfield’s car It was hit 57 times. “The radio was busted, transmission fluid, oil, every fluid but gasoline came from the car All the windows were busted out. There was a bullet hole through the head rest.”He took cover behind the engine block, but was hit twice, in the arm and buttock, leaving scar holes and metal fragments in his hand and forearm. The plaintiffs are victims of shootings, mostly by teenagers.

Defendants include Smith and Wesson, the biggest firearms manufacturer in the US, owned by the British conglomerate Tomkins.The mayor of Philadelphia recently convened a team to examine whether to file a public nuisance suit on the grounds that by flooding the market with guns, gunmakers are contributing to crime in his city. And in Massachusetts, there are moves to ban the small, cheap pistols known as “Saturday night specials” under consumer protection laws.Martin Whitfield, 31, arrived early at the scene at the Bank of America branch in North Hollywood, on 28 February last year on a rare “robbery in progress” call On his way, he imagined he’d encounter men with .45 pistols. “No one should need this kind of firepower,” he said.
American courts have long rejected claims that gunmakers are liable for the injuries caused by the weapons they sell, barring a design defect or a “failure to warn”. But as he stepped out of his patrol car he heard the “duh-duh- duh-duh-duh” begin. Two men, Emil Matasareanu and Larry Phillips, em- erged from the bank in full combat gear, armed with fully automatic assault rifles, spraying bullets. A suit over a weapon that misfired is more likely to succeed.

But “the Holy Grail is to attach liability to a manufacturer for an intentional shooting,” said Joshua Horowitz, of the Firearms Litigation Clearing House in Washington, an anti-gun-violence group. They dream of finding the legal formula that pits America’s sue-happy legal system against its gun-crazy culture and an arms industry that has defied political attempts to impose gun controlIn New York, a suit against US gunmakers is set for trial this October, accusing a string of companies of negligence in the sale and distribution of guns trafficked illegally into the state. Martin Whitfield’s case is one of several recent attempts to sue gunmakers in shootings, partly inspired by the success of law suits against the cigarette industry His lawyers face an uphill battle. But by suing, Officer Whitfield hopes to stop the sales, manufacture and distribution of weapons “designed for war”.