The victims of the church shooting reach over 140 million dollars
The Sutherland Springs Mass Shooting: The United States Account for the Damages Caused by the Texas Church Shooting, and an Indictment against the Shooter Jeremy Kelley
According to the news release, the US Department of Justice was able to reach an agreement in principle that will resolve claims over the mass shooting at a church in Texas.
A federal court in 2021 ruled the US government was liable for damages caused by the shooting, in which 26 people were killed and 22 others wounded. The US Air Force, a judge concluded, failed to exercise reasonable care when it didn’t submit the shooter’s criminal history to the FBI’s background check system, which increased the risk of physical harm to the general public.
The failure to relay information about the shooter’s martial conviction prevented its entry into the National Crime Information Center, a federal database that must be checked before someone is able to purchase a firearm. Kelley should have been prevented from buying guns.
“No words or amount of money can diminish the immense tragedy of the mass shooting in Sutherland Springs,” Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said. “Today’s announcement brings the litigation to a close, ending a painful chapter for the victims of this unthinkable crime.”
The shooting took place in a church and killed 25 people including a pregnant woman. Officials put the death toll at 26, and it remains the deadliest mass shooting in the state’s history.
As Kelley was leaving the church, a local resident armed with a rifle confronted the shooter and exchanged gunfire. Kelley fled in his vehicle to a neighboring county, where law enforcement found him dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Kelley was charged in military court in 2012 on suspicion of assaulting his spouse and their child. Kelley was demoted to E-1 after getting a bad conduct discharge and 12 months in confinement.
The law enforcement official who spoke to CNN previously said that despite Kelley’s history of domestic abuse and questionable behavior with firearms, he was able to purchase the rifle used in the shooting.
Investigating the December 2018 Newton-Kamiokande Injuries in the U.S. Attorney’s Office: The DOJ Rescinded
CNN reported that the government and the plaintiffs were working on a out-of-court resolution after the DOJ appealed the ruling.
But in January, the DOJ appealed the ruling, arguing that it could not be held mostly responsible for the attack and pushed back on paying damages. The National Rifle Association gave praise to the position that stunned gun-control advocates.
The United States has paid out victims’ families more than once in the aftermath of a mass shooting. The government has also paid out victims from the 2018 shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla., and the 2015 shooting at a church in Charleston, S.C.