Family members of Victims of the shooting at the Uvalde school announced a $2 million settlement with the Texas city on Wednesday over the 2022 mortification. The group also said it is filing lawsuits against dozens of Texas Department of Public Safety officers and the Uvalde school district.
The announcement comes nearly two years after a teenage gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School. Law enforcement officers killed the gunman in a classroom afterward waiting more than an hour to confront him, who was widely criticized in the wake of the shooting.
In the settlement announced Wednesday, the city of Uvalde will pay $2 million to the families of the 17 children killed in the shooting and two children who survived, according to a statement from the families' attorneys.
“Pursuing further legal action against the City could have plunged Uvalde into bankruptcy, something neither family was interested in as they seek community healing,” the statement said.
The agreement also includes enhanced training for Uvalde police officers, supporting mental health services for families, survivors and community members, and creating a committee to coordinate with families on a memorial permanent
The families are also taking new legal action against 92 state Department of Public Safety officers.
“Law enforcement did not treat the incident as an active shooter situation, despite the clear knowledge that there was an active shooter inside,” Wednesday's statement said. “… The shooter was able to continue the killing spree for over an hour as defenseless families waited anxiously outside the school.”
A Justice Department report released in January described the police response as a failure.
“If law enforcement agencies had followed generally accepted practices … lives would have been saved and people would have survived,” Attorney General Merrick Garland told reporters at the time.
