1984 McDonald’s Massacre Lawsuit: Why the Survivors Lost
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The 1984 McDonald's massacre lawsuit is Lopez v. McDonald's Corp., the consolidated case survivors and families brought after the San Ysidro shooting of July 18, 1984, which killed 21 people. A California appeals court threw it out on July 9, 1987, holding that McDonald's had no duty to guard against an attack that unforeseeable. The case is closed. There is no settlement, no fund and no claim form today.
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Reviewed by Leonard Goldberg, Editor · Last updated
What the Survivors and Families Argued
On July 18, 1984, a gunman opened fire inside a McDonald's restaurant in the San Ysidro neighborhood of San Diego. He killed 21 people and wounded 19 others before a police sniper killed him, roughly 77 minutes after the shooting began. It remains the deadliest mass shooting in California history.
Survivors and relatives of those killed sued in San Diego County Superior Court. The suits named McDonald's Corporation, its franchise Bosherro 522 Partnership and the franchisee, along with the San Diego Police Department. The core claim against McDonald's was negligent security: the lawsuits alleged the restaurant sat in a high-crime area and should have had protection such as guards. Separate suits targeted the city over the police response and the company that imported one of the gunman's weapons.
Case Details
The lead appeal is Lopez v. McDonald's Corp., 193 Cal. App. 3d 495, 238 Cal. Rptr. 436, Court of Appeal of California, Fourth District, Division One, Docket No. D004619, decided July 9, 1987. The opinion was written by Justice Work. It reviewed “a summary judgment in favor of McDonald's Corporation, and its franchise, Bosherro 522 Partnership and Robert T. Colvin.” The opinion is public on CourtListener.
This was a state-court case, not a federal one. The claims against the city over the police response were decided separately by the same appellate district in March 1987.
Status: Closed Since the Late Eighties, Nothing to Claim
As of October 2026 there is no settlement, no fund, no administrator, no claim form and no deadline connected to this case. People search for it because it is a fixture of tort law: CourtListener lists 64 later opinions citing Lopez, and it is still quoted whenever a business is sued over a mass shooting on its premises.
Who Was Part of These Cases
The plaintiffs were survivors of the shooting and relatives of the people killed. The Los Angeles Times reported in March 1987 that lawyers represented 26 survivors in the claims against the city, and that suits filed by an additional 37 survivors were still pending at that time.
Nobody can join today. The cases ended decades ago, and no new claim can be filed on them. If you are reading this because of a recent shooting at a business, the question of whether that business is liable turns on its own facts and on your state's deadline; see negligent security claims and wrongful death deadlines by state.
Did Anyone Get Money?
Money did flow outside the lawsuits. McDonald's announced a commitment to donate $1 million to a survivors' fund, Joan Kroc, the widow of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc, added $100,000 for burial costs, aid to families and counseling, and total donations to the fund exceeded $1.4 million. That was voluntary, not a court-ordered settlement. An EBSCO encyclopedia summary also says McDonald's “settled victims' injury claims”; we could not find a court record of the terms, so treat that statement with caution.
1984 McDonald’s Massacre Lawsuit Timeline
- 1
July 18, 1984 — The Shooting
A gunman kills 21 people and wounds 19 at the McDonald's in San Ysidro, San Diego.
- 2
September 26, 1984 — Restaurant Demolished
McDonald's tears down the building and gives the land to the city on condition that no restaurant is built there. In February 1988 the site is sold to Southwestern College for $136,000, with a memorial to the 21 victims.
- 3
1986 — Suits Dismissed in Two Courts
In April 1986 a San Diego County Superior Court judge dismisses the survivors' suits against McDonald's. A federal judge also throws out the suits against the company that imported the Uzi.
- 4
July 1986 — The Gunman's Widow Sues
She sues McDonald's and the gunman's former employer, Babcock & Wilcox, for $5 million, claiming a poor diet and toxic metals from welding triggered the attack. We could not confirm how that case ended.
- 5
March 1987 — City Not Liable
The 4th District Court of Appeal rules that San Diego cannot be held liable for the police response, upholding a lower-court ruling against the survivors.
- 6
July 9, 1987 — Lopez v. McDonald's Affirmed
The Court of Appeal affirms summary judgment for McDonald's, Docket No. D004619. Per Wikipedia, the last remaining suits were dismissed in August 1991.
Three Things to Watch For
A closed decades-old case should be scam-proof, but its fame makes it useful to people selling something:
“Unclaimed San Ysidro victims' fund” notices
The survivors' fund was a voluntary donation drive in 1984, and the lawsuits produced no court fund. Any message saying money from this case is waiting for you and asking for a fee or your Social Security number is fraudulent.
Videos claiming a big jury verdict
Viral retellings often blur this case with the hot coffee case. There was no jury verdict here: the claims against McDonald's were dismissed before trial and the dismissal was affirmed on appeal.
“McDonald's class action payment” mailers
Search interest in this case gets mixed up with current McDonald's litigation. Check what is actually pending on our McDonald's lawsuit page before replying to anything that asks you to confirm a payment.
1984 McDonald’s Massacre Lawsuit — Questions People Ask
What was the 1984 McDonald's massacre lawsuit?
It was the set of suits survivors and victims' families filed after the San Ysidro shooting of July 18, 1984, consolidated as Lopez v. McDonald's Corp. in San Diego County Superior Court. They argued McDonald's should have provided security in a high-crime area. The courts ruled against them.
Did the victims' families win?
No. The trial court granted summary judgment to McDonald's, and on July 9, 1987 the California Court of Appeal affirmed it in 193 Cal. App. 3d 495. The case never reached a jury.
Why did the court rule for McDonald's?
The court accepted that the area had crime: within two-tenths of a mile, five robberies, five batteries, three assaults with a deadly weapon and 38 felony thefts, and violent crime in San Ysidro at 228% of the city-wide rate. But it held the likelihood of this “unprecedented murderous assault was so remote and unexpected” that McDonald's owed no duty, and found no causal link between any lack of security and the injuries.
Did McDonald's pay the victims anything?
Not under any judgment. McDonald's voluntarily committed $1 million to a survivors' fund, Joan Kroc added $100,000, and total donations exceeded $1.4 million. An EBSCO summary says McDonald's also settled injury claims, but we found no court record of the terms.
Was the city or the police department sued?
Yes. In March 1987 the 4th District Court of Appeal held that San Diego could not be held liable for the police response, writing that it was “difficult to imagine anything the police could have done or failed to do which would have made the risk any greater.”
Did the gunman's widow sue McDonald's?
Yes. In July 1986 she sued McDonald's and Babcock & Wilcox, his longtime former employer, for $5 million. The suit claimed monosodium glutamate in the food and lead and cadmium from welding contributed to the attack. We found no reliable record of how it ended.
Is there anything to claim or any deadline today?
No. As of October 2026 there is no settlement, fund, administrator, claim form or deadline. Per Wikipedia, the last suits were dismissed in August 1991.
Why does this case still matter?
Lopez is a standard citation on whether a business must protect customers from violent crime; CourtListener lists 64 later opinions citing it. Whether a business is liable for a crime on its premises still turns on foreseeability; see negligent security claims.
Separate from this case: were you injured in the last 2 years?
Class-action payouts are fixed amounts through an administrator. A personal injury claim is a different case — and often worth far more. Free estimate, no obligation.
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