USA
Millions in compensation for victims of Parkland school massacre
Two employees of Stoneman Douglas High School returning to work on February 24, 2018. The US government has now awarded millions in compensation to the surviving victims and relatives of the massacre. Photo: Mike Stocker/Sun Sentinel via Zuma/dpa
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In 2018, a 19-year-old gunman killed 17 people at a Florida high school. Now the US government is paying millions in compensation to the victims and their families – this is not an acknowledgment of guilt.
Around four years after the massacre at a school in the US state of Florida, the US government has agreed with the victims and their families on compensation in the millions.
The US Department of Justice announced that 40 civil lawsuits were settled for a total of 127.5 million US dollars (around 115.6 million euros). “The settlement does not constitute an admission of guilt by the United States,” it said. The plaintiffs had accused the FBI of negligence.
A 19-year-old gunman shot dead 14 teenagers and three adults and injured others with a legally purchased semi-automatic rifle at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February 2018.
After the bloodbath, surviving students started protests against gun violence and for stricter gun laws in the United States, which became a nationwide movement. The relatives had argued in their lawsuits that the FBI did not properly follow up leads on the shooter before the massacre and thus failed to intervene in a timely manner.