A Hennepin County judge denied a motion earlier this month to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit against Scheels All Sports and one of its employees, allowing the case to move forward toward trial.
The suit, filed by Sarah Van Bogart, mother of 19-year-old Jordan L. Markie, alleges that the company and employee William Ballantyne were negligent in entrusting a handgun to her son, who died by suicide inside Scheels’ Eden Prairie store at 8301 Flying Cloud Drive on Aug. 22, 2022. Van Bogart is serving as trustee for Markie’s heirs, a role required under Minnesota’s wrongful death statute.
She filed the original complaint in September 2024, two years after her son’s death. According to the amended complaint, Markie – who was under the legal age to purchase a handgun – was permitted to handle an unloaded handgun in the store’s firearms department. Surveillance footage shows that he examined the weapon for 28 seconds before running off with it, loading it with ammunition taken from store shelves, and fatally shooting himself.
The complaint says Markie appeared visibly anxious and behaved unusually before being handed the gun. It further argues that Scheels failed to follow industry safety standards, including verifying ID and evaluating whether Markie was legally and emotionally fit to handle the weapon. The lawsuit also accuses the company of lax firearm safety practices and of ignoring widely recognized suicide-prevention protocols within the gun retail industry…