Remington, the maker of the Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle used in the mass shooting that saw 20 first grade students and six educators killed agreed to pay $73 million to families of nine victims.
Nine families who lost loved ones during the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary in December 2012 have settled for $73 million with gunmaker Remington, the maker of the Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle weapon used in the mass shooting, CBS News reported.
Twenty first grade students and six educators were killed in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
The families and a survivor of the shooting sued the gunmaker in 2015 saying that the company should have never sold such a dangerous weapon to the public.
The families have also "obtained and can make public thousands of pages of internal company documents that prove Remington's wrongdoing and carry important lessons for helping to prevent future mass shootings," their attorneys said.
"Today is not about honoring our son Benjamin. Today is about how and why Ben died," Francine Wheeler, whose 6-year-old son was killed in the shooting, said at a press conference Tuesday. "It is about what is right and what is wrong. Our legal system has given us some justice today, but David and I will never have true justice. True justice would be our 15-year-old healthy and here with us."
Nicole Hockley, whose 6-year-old son was killed in the shooting, also spoke at the press conference.
“Nothing will bring Dylan back,” Hockley said. “My hope for this lawsuit is that by facing and finally being penalized for the impact of their work, gun companies along with the insurance and banking industries that enable them will be forced to make their practices safer than they’ve ever been, which will save lives and stop more shootings.”
Gun control advocates, as well as gun rights supporters and manufacturers, kept a close eye on this particular case because of its potential to provide a roadmap for victims of other shootings to sue firearm makers, the Associated Press reported.
"We established what was clearly true ... the immunity protecting the gun industry is not bulletproof," the families’ attorney Josh Koskoff said. "We hope they realize they have skin in the game, instead of blaming literally everybody else."
The Supreme Court in 2019 decided not to take up an appeal by Remington, allowing the suit to move forward, CNN reported.
Shooter Adam Lanza entered Sandy Hook Elementary School after he murdered his mother in their home. He opened fire on the children and educators before taking his own life. It was one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.
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