PARKLAND, Fla. — The Department of Justice announced a multimillion-dollar civil settlement with 40 cases that stemmed from the February 2018 Parkland school shooting that left 17 students dead and 17 more injured.
On Wednesday, the DOJ said the $127.5 million settlement resolves all of the cases brought as a result of the mass shooting.
"The settlement does not amount to an admission of fault by the United States," a news release states.
Those involved in the 40 civil cases have been in litigation since 2018 when the families of 16 of the 17 people killed sued the government for damages, the DOJ says.
On Feb. 14, 2018, a former student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High Schools walked into the halls armed with a rifle and ammunition concealed in a rifle bag and opened fire killing 14 students and three staff members. Seventeen more were also injured.
An hour after the attack, he was arrested with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle. Eight months after the mass shooting, he would plead guilty to the February 2018 killings.
The penalty trial of the Florida school shooter will be delayed until April. Prosecutors told the judge Wednesday that they needed more time to interview mental health experts who are expected to testify on his behalf.
This Associated Press contributed to this report.
