The Uvalde City Council unanimously approved a settlement with the families of the victims from the mass shooting at Robb Elementary in 2022 on Tuesday.
The final agreement comes nearly a year after it was first announced and a month shy of the three-year mark since a teenage gunman stormed into two adjoining classrooms, in Uvalde, Texas, killing 19 children and two teachers while hundreds of law enforcement resources inexplicably waited outside.
Uvalde will pay the families a total of $2 million from its insurance coverage as part of the settlement.
Victims’ families previously told CNN they wouldn’t seek a higher payout from the city to prevent the place they call home from going bankrupt. They are also seeking damages from other institutions, including the Texas state police, involved in the failed response.
Josh Koskoff, an attorney representing 19 families whose loved ones were murdered or injured, said in a statement that “faced with a difficult decision, these families worked with the community they love to make things right without creating deeper economic hardship.”
“The road to healing is long and painful, but we are hopeful that this agreement enables families who lost so much and the city they call home to continue that process,” Koskoff said.
“Nothing can ever make up for the losses and harms these families endured on May 24, 2022, but (the) agreement marks an important step forward in advancing community healing and ensuring our City forever honors the lives we tragically lost and supporting all surviving victims,” Uvalde Mayor Hector Luevano said in a statement to CNN.
Luevano said the settlement shows the “city is committed to honoring their memories by providing the necessary support.”
As part of the settlement, the city will make changes at the local police department, including a “fitness for duty” standard for police officers and better emergency training.
May 24 will now be an annual Day of Remembrance, and a permanent memorial will be erected to honor the victims. The city says it will also continue to support mental health services for the families and survivors.
There are several pending lawsuits by the families against the people they blame for a disastrous police response, where nearly 400 law enforcement officers waited more than an hour to confront the teenage gunman. The families are also suing 92 officers with the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Uvalde Consolidated School District, and individual employees.
The slow response, documented at length in a series of investigative reports by CNN, was in clear contradiction of law enforcement’s active shooter protocols, which direct officers to stop the threat immediately.
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