The families of the victims of the Uvalde elementary school shooting in Texas have reached a $2 million settlement with the Texas city.
The settlement was announced on Wednesday, May 22, per CBS News—two days short of the two-year anniversary of the shooting at Robb Elementary School, which claimed the lives of 19 children and two teachers. The city of Uvalde will pay $2 million to the families of 17 deceased victims, and two who were injured in the shooting. "Pursuing further legal action against the City could have plunged Uvalde into bankruptcy, something that none of the families were interested in as they look for the community to heal," reads the statement from the families.
"These families could have pursued a lawsuit against the city, and there's certainly grounds for a lawsuit," added attorney Josh Koskoff. "Let's face it, sadly, we all saw what we saw … but instead of suing the city and jeopardizing the finances of anybody, the families have accepted simply the insurance."
Per the statement, the Uvalde Police Department announced plans to provide officers with enhanced training, while the city will provide mental health services for survivors and those impacted by the shooting.
Associated Press reports that the families will be pursuing further legal action against the officers involved in the response. The families have heavily criticized the police response to the shooting, because it took them over an hour to confront the shooter as he continued killing students, while officers sat outside of the building. The federal lawsuit seeks $500 million in damages from the almost 100 state police officers who responded to the shooting alongside federal and local officers.
The lawsuit accuses state troopers of failing to follow through on their active shooter training and failing to confront the teenage shooter in an adequate timeframe. "The protocols trap teachers and students inside, leaving them fully reliant on law enforcement to respond quickly and effectively," the families added in a lawsuit, referring to how students and teachers followed the lockdown protocols instead of trying to escape the building.
"Law enforcement’s inaction that day was a complete and absolute betrayal of these families and the sons, daughters and mothers they lost," added Erin Rodgers, an attorney for one of the families involved in the lawsuit. "TXDPS had the resources, training and firepower to respond appropriately, and they ignored all of it and failed on every level. These families have not only the right but also the responsibility to demand justice."
A criminal investigation of the heavily-criticized response by authorities is ongoing.
