Feds settle for $88 million in Charleston shooting case

The Justice Department admitted missteps that enabled Dylann Roof to legally purchase a gun despite having a criminal record. On June 17, 2015, Roof opened fire on a Bible study group at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., killing nine people. The $88 million settlement will provide between $6 million and $7.5 million to the families of those killed, and each survivor is entitled to $5 million. An attorney for the families said 88, a number typically associated with white supremacy, is also the number of bullets Roof brought to the church.

How did Roof get a gun? Lexington County police arrested Roof for drug possession in February 2015, months before the massacre. Roof later pleaded guilty to this charge. But faulty paperwork and lack of follow-through misled a background check examiner. Because the FBI did not block the sale within three days, Roof picked up his Glock 41 at a shopping mall. Attorney General Merrick Garland said no one disputes that the charge should have prevented any sale. Roof received nine life sentences and the death sentence for a federal hate crime in 2017, a ruling which was upheld in August.

Dig deeper: From the archives, read Dick Peterson’s reports on how Christians in Charleston reacted to the shooting.