Cnn
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The Uvalde municipal council unanimously approved a settlement with the families of the victims of the mass shooting in Robb Elementary in 2022 on Tuesday.
The final agreement comes almost a year after the announcement for the first time and a shy month from the three -year bar since a teenager shooter entered two adjacent classrooms in Uvalde, Texas, Kill 19 children and two teachers while hundreds of law implementation resources were inexplicably awaiting outside.
Uvalde will pay families in total of $ 2 million compared to its insurance coverage within the framework of the regulations.
The families of the victims previously declared to CNN that they would not seek a higher payment in the city to prevent the place where they call at home from going bankrupt. They also ask for damages from other institutions, including the Texas State police, involved in the failed response.
Josh Koskoff, a lawyer representing 19 families whose relatives have been murdered or injured, said in a statement that “confronted with a difficult decision, these families worked with the community that they like to do things without creating deeper economic difficulties”.
“The way of healing is long and painful, but we hope that this agreement allows families who have lost so much and the city they call at home to continue this process,” said Koskoff.
“Nothing can ever compensate for the losses and injuries suffered by these families on May 24, 2022, but (the agreement) marks an important step forward in the progress of community healing and ensuring that our city forever honors the life that we tragically lost and supporting all the surviving victims,” said the mayor of Uvalde, Hector Luevano, in a statement to CNN.
Luevano said that the regulations show that “the City is committed to honoring their memories by providing the necessary support”.
As part of the regulations, the city will make changes to the local police service, including a standard “fitness for duty” for police officers and better emergency training.
May 24 will now be an annual day of memory, and a permanent memorial will be erected to honor the victims. The city claims that it will also continue to support mental health services for families and survivors.
There are several proceedings awaiting families against the people they blame for a disastrous police response, where nearly 400 agents responsible for the application of laws waited for more than an hour to face the teenage shooter. Families also pursue 92 officers from Texas Department of Public Safety, Uvalde Consolidated School District and individual employees.
The slow response, long documented in a series of CNN investigation reports, was in clear contradiction of the active shooting protocols of the application of laws, which allow officers to immediately stop the threat.
