Sutherland Springs Shooting Victims, DOJ Reach $144M Settlement

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Facts

  • The US Dept. of Justice (DOJ) has reached a tentative $144M agreement to settle claims from more than 75 plaintiffs stemming from the November 2017 mass shooting at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas.1
  • If the settlement is finalized, it will likely end a yearslong legal battle over the US government's responsibility for the rampage that killed 26 people and left dozens injured.2
  • Dozens of victims sued the US Air Force in 2018 after the armed forces branch admitted failing to report gunman Devin Kelley's violent record to the FBI's background check system.3
  • In 2021, a federal judge determined that the US Air Force was mostly responsible for the attack as its officials failed to add the shooter — a former airman convicted of domestic assault — to a federal database that would prevent him from legally buying the gun used in the shooting.4
  • At the time, US District Judge Xavier Rodriguez ruled that the omission rendered the military branch 60% liable for the rampage, later ordering the government to pay more than $230M in damages.5
  • Mass shootings have steadily risen in the US, with 647 incidents recorded last year, compared to 273 in 2014. The country witnessed 130 mass shootings in the first three months of 2023.6

Sources: 1FOX News, 2NBC, 3Washington Post, 4Wall Street Journal, 5BBC News and 6New York Times.

Narratives

  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Houston chronicle. This settlement has been unjustifiably delayed and is lower than the court-ordered payment. Many people have forgotten the 2017 mass shooting, except for the Sutherland Springs survivors and families who have experienced years of additional suffering by reliving their mental and emotional trauma in open court while having no relief to cover expensive medical costs. This is a victory, but much more should have been done.
  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by NPR Online News. Neither words nor any amount of money can ever heal the trauma caused by this tragic rampage, so the most important achievement possible was to bring this litigation to an end. The country owes these families much more than any material thing. Still, this agreement — the third in US history to pay out mass shooting victims' families — is a responsible step in the right direction.

Predictions