OAN’s James Myers
10:18 AM – Thursday, May 23, 2024
The families of 19 students and teachers killed or injured at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, announced Wednesday that they have settled a lawsuit with the city for $2 million.
advertisement
The group said it has also filed lawsuits against dozens of Texas Department of Public Safety officials and the Uvalde school district, including a $500 million federal lawsuit against about 100 state troopers involved in responding to the school shooting.
“It’s been two excruciating years,” Javier Cazares, father of the victim, 9-year-old Jacquelyn Cazares, said at a news conference. “We all know who took our children’s lives, but there was a clear systemic failure on May 24th. The whole world witnessed it.”
“No amount of money is worth the lives of our children. Justice and accountability have always been my greatest concerns. We have been let down too many times and it’s time to do the right thing,” he said.
City officials confirmed the settlement in a statement.
“I am pleased to have reached an agreement today with the families of the victims. This agreement ensures that we do not forget the tragedy at Robb Elementary School, move forward together as a community, and provide healing to all those affected.” We can bring about recovery,” the city said. “We are forever grateful to the families of the victims who have worked with us over the past year to foster a community-wide healing environment that honors the lives and memories of those tragically lost. ”May 24thth This is a huge tragedy for our community.”
The settlement comes on the eve of the second anniversary of the tragic mass shooting in which an 18-year-old boy stormed an elementary school, barricaded himself in a classroom, and killed 19 children and two teachers.
Meanwhile, a total of 376 police officers from the area responded to the school, but curiously, none of them entered the school to confront the shooter for at least 77 minutes.
Uvalde will pay a total of $2 million to the families from insurance proceeds as part of the settlement, according to a statement from attorneys Josh Koskoff and Erin Rogers.
As a result of this tragedy, the city has since committed to making several policy changes to the police department. The city was founded on May 24thth Establish a coordinating committee to design a permanent memorial that will provide mental health services to families, survivors, and community members for the annual Day of Remembrance.
It also plans to establish new standards for police officers’ “fitness for duty.”
The terms of the settlement were agreed upon through a “restorative justice process” between the family and the city. Lawyers argued that further legal action could bankrupt the city of Ubalde, which none of the families wanted.
Koskoff said in a statement that the reconciliation was a healing measure, and one of the mothers of the slain students said the reconciliation reflected “sincere efforts.”
“For two long years, we have endured suffering without any accountability from the law enforcement and police officers who destroyed our families that day. This settlement protects us. “This reflects the city of Uvalde’s first good faith efforts to begin rebuilding trust in a system that failed to do so,” Veronica Luevanos, whose daughter Jayla and nephew Jace were killed, said in a statement. .
“But it wasn’t just the officers in Uvalde who failed us that day. Nearly 100 Texas Department of Public Safety officers have yet to be held accountable for standing by in horror while their daughter and nephew bled to death in their classroom.”
Stay informed! Receive the latest news directly to your email for free. Please register here. https://www.oann.com/alerts
Please share this post!
