Shooting victims’ families settle with Uvalde city, plan more lawsuits

Families of students killed or injured in the 2022 shooting publicized the $2 million settlement with Uvalde, Texas, on Wednesday. The coalition of 19 families plans to additionally sue 92 officers with the Texas Department of Public Safety, along with the school district and individual employees. No amount of money is worth the lives of the children, but there was an obvious systemic failure in authorities’ response to the shooting, father Javier Cazares said at the Wednesday press conference. According to a statement from victims ' attorneys, the city will also implement an officer fitness for duty standard and establish May 24 as a Day of Remembrance.

Has the city said anything about the settlement? Uvalde is grateful to the victims’ families for working with the city to find an agreement, according to a statement from the city.  Uvalde law enforcement received public criticism for the slow response to the 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School. Over 375 law enforcement officers responded to the shooting, with the first arriving four minutes after the shooter. However, for over an hour, none of them entered the occupied classroom to confront the shooter—despite hearing gunshots. 

Dig deeper: Read Marc LiVecche’s column in WORLD Opinions for more on the DOJ’s report about police response to the shooting.