Justice Department tentatively settles Texas shooting lawsuit

The Department of Justice announced Wednesday a tentative $144.5 million settlement for families and victims of a 2017 mass shooting in a Texas church. A former Air Force serviceman killed 26 people and wounded 22 others at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. The shooter died of an apparent gunshot wound. U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez ruled in 2021 that the Air Force was 60 percent liable for the shooting, while the shooter was responsible for the rest. The agreed-upon settlement is now waiting for court approval.

Why was the Air Force held liable? The serviceman had been dishonorably discharged after assaulting his wife and son, but the Air Force did not put the conviction into the FBI’s database. If it had, the serviceman would not have been able to legally buy a firearm or body armor, the DOJ said.

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read Charissa Koh’s report in WORLD Magazine on Sutherland Springs a year after the shooting.