Justice Dept agrees to pay $144.5m to Texas shooting victims

WASHINGTON: The Justice Department announced a $144.5 million settlement on Wednesday with victims of a 2017 mass shooting at a church in Texas that left 26 people dead and 22 injured.

The agreement in principle, which still needs court approval, is aimed at resolving civil lawsuits stemming from the attack carried out by a former member of the US Air Force, the department said in a statement. A federal district court judge ruled in July 2021 that the government was partly liable because the air force failed to enter information into the FBI´s background check system that would have prevented the assailant from buying a gun.

Devin Kelley, who killed himself after carrying out the attack at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, had a conviction for domestic violence on his record and had been court-martialed.