WASHINGTON, March 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US Department of Justice (DOJ) said that it had settled the 40 civil cases that arose following the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, southeastern state of Florida, for US$127.5 million.
“The settlement does not amount to an admission of fault by the United States,” the DOJ said in a release.
“The parties have been in litigation since late 2018, when the survivors of the shooting, and the families of 16 people killed, sued the government for damages,” it added.
The families of 16 victims, as well as several survivors, sued the US government after learning that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had received a tip about the shooter five weeks before the shooting.
An unnamed caller told the tip line that Cruz had purchased guns and was going to “slip into a school and start shooting the place up,” but the information was never shared with local officials.
“I know he’s going to explode,” the caller told the FBI.
On Feb 14, 2018, armed with a rifle, Nikolas Cruz walked into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and opened fire with his semi-automatic weapon, killing 17 and injuring 17 others. This was the deadliest high school shooting in US history.
In October 2021, Cruz, a former student who had been expelled from the school in 2017 for documented disturbing and violent behavior, pleaded guilty to 17 counts of premeditated first-degree murder and 17 counts of attempted first-degree murder.
Cruz now faces a life in prison or the death penalty. His sentencing is currently scheduled for April 4, CBS Miami reports.
According to settlement paperwork, the plaintiffs have said they will dismiss their case after “all settlement funds have been received,” and have requested a 45-day extension to allow for the Treasury Department to issue payments. The Treasury has already paid out one case, and the rest of the funds remain in progress, according to a joint status statement.
In December, the Broward County, Florida, school district announced it would pay more than $26 million to the families of the 17 people killed and some of those injured in the shooting. — NNN-AGENCIES
