A Florida school district will pay $25 million to the families of Parkland victims
A Florida school district will pay $25 million to the families of Parkland victims
Mourners visit a makeshift memorial outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 14, 2020, during the two-year anniversary of the Parkland shooting that killed 17 people and injured another 17. Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service/Getty Images hide caption
Mourners visit a makeshift memorial outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 14, 2020, during the two-year anniversary of the Parkland shooting that killed 17 people and injured another 17.
Matias J. Ocner/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service/Getty ImagesThe families of 52 people killed, injured or traumatized in the shooting at a Florida high school have reached a $25 million settlement with the Broward County school district. A lawyer for five of the families, David Brill confirmed the agreement. He said the largest payments will go to the families of the 17 students and adults killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018.
"This settlement provides a measure of justice and accountability," Brill said, calling it "fair and frankly remarkable." It's written in a way that allows the school district to pay the claims without seeking approval from Florida's legislature, normally required for any claims settled for more than $300,000. Because it hadn't been signed yet, the Broward County School District was withholding comment.
The agreement comes more than three and a half years after a former student walked onto the campus of the school in Parkland, Fla., and shot 34 people, killing 17 and wounding 17 others. It settles claims of the families of those killed and all but one of the injured. One of the most severely injured, student Anthony Borges, is seeking his own settlement with the school district.
Brill said the agreement also includes payments to 19 people who suffered trauma in the shootings at the high school.
The gunman, troubled former student Nikolas Cruz, is awaiting trial on 34 counts of murder and attempted murder. Last week, his lawyers told a judge their client would plead guilty to all counts.
Cruz will appear in a Florida courtroom Wednesday. He is expected to plead guilty to all charges. That move could determine whether he receives the death penalty.