The gun store owners who sold an AR-15 to confessed Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz are seeking help from Yelp over backlash they are facing.
According to reports, Sunrise Tactical Supply has seen their Yelp score negatively affected as people have taken to the page to rate them with one star.
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There are also many angry comments, such as reviewers calling the owners “complicit” in the shooting and others saying they hope the store gets “as much negative press as possible.”
TMZ reports Yelp has added an “Active Cleanup Alert” to to the business’ page, which reads, “This business has recently been in the news in connection with a recent tragedy. As a result, people may be coming to this page to share their thoughts and concerns.”
“The best place to share your thoughts is on Yelp Talk. You are also welcome to post a review about this business, but we will ultimately remove reviews that appear to be motivated more by the recent events than by the reviewer’s own customer experience with the business. Unfortunately, that means that we need to remove comments even when we agree with them,” the message continues.
“Please note that we apply this same policy regardless of the business and regardless of the event at issue in order to avoid injecting our own varied viewpoints into the debate,” the message concludes.
Cruz was charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder, one for each of the students and adults he allegedly shot to death Wednesday at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
Sunrise Tactical Supply is owned by Michael and Lisa Morrison. On Thursday, their lawyer Douglas Rudman spoke to the press in front of the business.
According to The Daily Mail, Rudman told reporters that his clients sold “a lawful weapon to someone who was mentally ill.”
“Someone who fell through the cracks. Someone who was not held accountable for their actions when they were expelled from school. Someone who was not put into any sort of database and someone who was essentially allowed to go unchecked before walking into this store and purchasing a firearm,” Rudman added.
Cruz reportedly purchased only the gun from the shop and no additional ammunition or modifications.
“It is for that reason that no red flags were raised, Rudman added. “It seems like Mr. Cruz made a deliberate attempt to not draw suspicion by not buying too many things from one place.”
While filling out necessary paperwork for buying a gun, Cruz reportedly answered “no” to a question that asked about past mental health institutionalization. This was a lie, as he had previously been a facility seeking treatment for mental health issues.
The store has reportedly closed indefinitely at this time due to the controversy of being connected to the shooting.
