A gun & a life changed: Car salesman speaks out after being shot by former customer

Yahoo

06-05-2025

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Liberty car salesman is fighting for justice – and accountability – after he was shot by a man he sold a car to.
Jody Hendrick was working at an Independence car lot when a former customer walked in and shot him repeatedly.
'He shot me here in the chest; I remember that part,' Hendrick said. 'After that, I don't remember anything until my femur shattered and I went down by the front door.'
Hendrick had to undergo multiple life-saving surgeries, which impacted his mobility.
'The last shot was when he stood over me and shot me in the forehead with a gun, and that caused a brain bleed.'
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As for the shooter, and former customer, he was killed by deputies in the subsequent gun fight.
Now, five years later, Hendricks says his injuries have left him unable to work.
So he filed a lawsuit in a Missouri court.
It turns out, the shooter stole the gun from a local sporting goods store, Academy Sports and Outdoors, in Liberty.
So Hendrick sued the retail chain – only to find his chances of winning in court blocked, again and again, by a federal law.
'They're hiding behind a law,' Hendrick said. 'And that leaves me, who's permanently disabled for the rest of my life, out in the cold.'
The store where the gun was stolen from caught the whole thing on camera.
You can see the suspect talking with a store clerk who hands him the gun to look at. The clerk then goes in the back to run his information, and it comes back 'denied.' That's when the suspect pulls out a knife, leaps over the counter, and steals the gun and some ammo.
Hendrick said the store needs to be held accountable.
His lawsuit claims the store was negligent for handing over the gun before the customer's background check was completed.
He also claims the gun didn't have a trigger lock and says the ammo for it was easily accessible.
But his case was dismissed in the lower court then upheld in favor of Academy Sports again and again – until reaching the Missouri Supreme court, which declined to hear it.
The problem, according to Hendrick, is a federal law: the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA).
Timothy Lytton, a law professor at Georgia State University, says the act was a statement by Congress.
'PLCAA essentially says that no person can bring a lawsuit for civil liability against a firearms manufacturer or seller for any injury that results from criminal misuse of a weapon,' Lytton said.
Congress passed the act in 2005 – after several lawsuits were filed against firearms sellers and manufacturers, holding them liable for injuries caused by criminals who got ahold of their weapons.
Lytton says it's a type of immunity specifically for the gun industry.
'In no other system or no other instance do we have a case where an industry enjoys immunity without any alternative source of compensation for civil liability for its negligence in the sale or marketing its products,' Lytton said.
Attorney Kevin Jamison says the act was intended to protect businesses within the gun industry.
'Otherwise everyone who is shot by a criminal could sue the manufacturer, and that would drive the manufacturers out of business,' he said. 'And that's what the Protection Act was designed to prevent.'
There are a few exceptions to the protections provided by the PLCAA – one being if the sale of the weapon violated on of the other federal or state laws about the marketing or sale of guns.
However, Jamison says it's his opinion that the fact the gun was stolen breaks the chain of responsibility.
'There were intervening criminal acts that preceded the gentleman's injury,' he said. 'It's a terrible thing, but there are terrible people in the world.'
To this day, Hendrick says his court battle was less about justice and more about accountability.
'We need to start looking at the process of how these weapons are stored at these facilities and how they're handled,' Hendrick told FOX4. 'If somebody is a convicted felon, they shouldn't be handed a firearm.'
As a gun owner himself, his goal now is encouraging others to be more cautious.
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Since Hendrick won't get his day in court, he said he's now focusing on being grateful that he's still alive.
FOX4 reached out to the sporting goods store, but we have not received a response from either its national headquarters or the local store where the theft took place.
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