Uvalde School Shooting Victims’ Families Reach $2 Million Settlement With City and File New Lawsuits

Reggie Daniels pays his respects a memorial at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on June 9, 2022. Eric Gay, File/AP Photo

The families of 17 children killed and two children injured in the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, announced on Wednesday that they had reached a $2 million settlement with the city under which city leaders promised higher standards and better training for local police.

“For two long years, we have languished in pain and without any accountability from the law enforcement agencies and officers who allowed our families to be destroyed that day,” said Veronica Luevanos, whose daughter Jailah and nephew Jayce were killed, at a news conference. “This settlement reflects a first good faith effort, particularly by the City of Uvalde, to begin rebuilding trust in the systems that failed to protect us.”

They also announced a new lawsuit against nearly 100 Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) officers who participated in the botched law enforcement response.

The announcement comes just two days before the second anniversary of one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. On May 24, 2022, a teenage gunman burst into a classroom and began shooting, killing 19 fourth-graders and two teachers.

‘“While there is nothing normal about living in a society where kids can easily get access to a military rifle, the reality is that these officers were so terrified that they chose to abandon their burden to the Uvalde community: put themselves between a very dangerous person and a child, and the families must hold them accountable,” attorney Josh Koskoff said during the news conference.

The lawsuit against 92 Texas DPS officers is the latest of several lawsuits seeking accountability for the 376 federal, state, and local officers who responded to the scene but waited 77 minutes before confronting the shooter.

It is also the first lawsuit to follow the 600-page Justice Department report detailing the “cascading failures” in training, communication, leadership, and technology that occurred during the response.

The lawsuit names the Uvalde School District, former Robb Elementary Principal Mandy Gutierrez, and former Uvalde School District Police Chief Peter Arredondo as defendants.

The lawsuit notes how state troopers failed to follow their active shooter training and their responsibility to confront the shooter, even while teachers and students inside the classroom followed the lockdown protocols of locking the door, turning lights off, and keeping silent.

“The protocols trap teachers and students inside, leaving them fully reliant on law enforcement to respond quickly and effectively,” the families and their attorneys said in a statement.

Terrified students inside the classroom called 911 for help while their parents, some of whom heard shots being fired, begged officers to let them go inside the school. Eventually, a tactical team entered the classroom and killed the shooter.

“Law-enforcement’s inaction that day was a complete and absolute betrayal of these families and the sons, daughters, and mothers they lost,” said Erin Rogiers, one of the attorneys for the families. “TXDPS had the resources, training, and firepower to respond appropriately, and they ignored all of it and failed on every level. These families have not only the right but also the responsibility to demand justice.”

Uvalde District Attorney Christina Mitchell’s criminal investigation into the police response remains ongoing. Earlier this year, a grand jury was summoned, and some law enforcement officials have been called to testify. 

In December 2022, another lawsuit was filed against the city, local and state police, and other school and law enforcement agencies, seeking at least $27 billion and class-action status for survivors.

At least two other lawsuits have been filed against Daniel Defense, the gun manufacturer of the AR-style rifle that was used by the shooter.

Mr. Koskof said there will be more lawsuits, beginning with the state of Texas.

“There will be lawsuits forthcoming,” the lawyer said. “Most immediately against the state of Texas, which has done nothing at all.”

He said that the state prevented the families from receiving the information they needed in the aftermath and failed to provide necessary resources.

“So, yes, we are suing the state of Texas,” Mr. Koskoff told reporters. “We’re also suing down the line, and we'll be suing the federal government.”

State troopers stand outside of Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022. Alison Dinner/AFP via Getty Images

Settlement with City

The lawyer explained that the settlement with the city was capped at $2 million because the families did not want to bankrupt the small town or place a hardship on their friends, families, and neighbors who still live there as the community continues to heal from the deadly massacre.

Under the settlement agreement, the city committed to a new “fitness for duty” standard and enhanced police officer training.

It also establishes May 24 as an annual day of remembrance, a permanent memorial in the city plaza, and support for mental health services for the families and the greater Uvalde area.

Mr. Koskof said a memorial statue has not yet been commissioned but that they are seeking someone willing to create it as a gift to the city plaza.

Following the shooting, the state of Texas mandated that law enforcement officers receive at least 16 hours of active shooter training every two years.