A lawsuit filed by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison alleging Fleet Farm negligently sold firearms and other accusations tied to gun trafficking will proceed to trial, court documents filed Wednesday show. 

According to the 2022 civil lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court of Minnesota, Fleet Farm stores sold 37 guns to two individuals — Jerome Horton and Sarah Elwood — between 2020 and 2021. Elwood and Horton have since been arrested and charged. Ellison said shortly after filing the lawsuit that the company should have known they were being resold.

The state in the lawsuit accused Fleet Farm of public nuisance, aiding and abetting, negligent entrustment, negligence, negligence per se and violating the Minnesota Gun Control Act.  

A judge on Wednesday ruled that the court will give judgment on aiding and abetting, negligent entrustment and "on certain firearm transactions" in connection with the alleged violation of the Minnesota Gun Control Act prior to a trial.

Horton bought 24 handguns from four Fleet Farm stores between June 2021 and October 2021, according to the lawsuit. One of the guns purchased was used in the October 2021 mass shooting in downtown St. Paul that left a woman dead and 14 others injured, court documents say. That firearm "changed hands several times" before it reached the hands of Devondre Phillips, who used it in the shooting.

In 2023, a federal court denied Fleet Farm's motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

The attorney general's office said the trial date will be "set by the court in the near future."

WCCO has reached out to Fleet Farm for comment. The company said when the lawsuit was filed in 2023 that it "strongly disagrees" with the lawsuit and complies "with all applicable gun laws and devote substantial resources to training and compliance."

The original air date of the video attached to this article was Oct. 5, 2022.