HOUSTON, TEXAS—The Department of Justice and victims’ counsel have reached a tentative agreement to settle all civil cases arising out of the Sutherland Springs Church mass shooting for $144.5M. The agreement, if approved by the Attorney General, would end the Government’s appeal of the ruling by a federal judge that the United States is responsible for stopping mass shootings by following existing laws related to the firearm background check system.
On November 5, 2017, a gunman killed 26 people, including an unborn child, and shot 22 others at a central Texas Church in Sutherland Springs, outside San Antonio. After two trials, a Texas federal court held that the Air Force bore some responsibility for this shooting because they failed to report the shooter’s criminal convictions to the FBI, as required by law.
The settlement comes after previous DOJ settlements in the Parkland Shooting of $127.5M and the Charleston Shooting of $88M.
“The Sutherland Springs families are heroes. The country owes them a debt of gratitude. They have gone through so much pain and loss in the most horrific way. But despite that, these families fought for justice, endured and won two trials against the Federal Government, and made this country safer as a result. But the settlement is not final. Attorney General Garland’s office still must approve it, and we urge his Justice Department to act quickly to bring some closure to these families. It’s the least they deserve,” said counsel for the families.
April Strahan of The Ammons Law Firm is Co-Lead Counsel for the Plaintiffs. The Plaintiffs are also represented by Robert E. Ammons of The Ammons Law Firm, Daniel Barks of Speiser Krause PC (also Co-Lead Counsel for Plaintiffs), Jamal Alsaffar (also Co-Lead Counsel for Plaintiffs) and Tom Jacob of Whitehurst, Harkness, Brees, Cheng, Alsaffar, Higginbotham & Jacob PLLC, Jason Steed of Kilpatrick Townsend Stockton LLP, Justin Demerath of O’Hanlon, Demerath & Castillo, Bob Hilliard & Marion Reilly of Hilliard Munoz Gonzales LLP, Robert Wilson of the Law Offices of Thomas J. Henry, Dennis Peery and R. Craig Bettis of Tyler & Peery, Diego Lopez of Anderson & Associates Law Firm, Brett Reynolds of Brett Reynolds & Associates PC, Frank Herrera Jr. and Jorge A. Herrera of The Herrera Law Firm, Jason Webster & Chelsie King Garza of The Webster Law Firm, Erik Knockaert & Joe Schreiber of Schreiber Knockaert PLLC, Tim Maloney and Paul Campolo of Maloney & Campolo LLP, Daniel Sciano & Aaron Valadez of Tinsman & Sciano, and George LeGrand and Stanley Bernstein of LeGrand and Bernstein.
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Led by founding attorney Rob Ammons, The Ammons Law Firm is a Houston-based personal injury firm representing clients nationwide in catastrophic injury and wrongful death litigation. Backed with more than three decades of experience, The Ammons Law Firm focuses on complex liability cases and has successfully recovered over $1 billion for clients wrongfully injured or killed by corporate and governmental wrongdoing.
