SW News: In the United States, the Justice Department has reached a settlement worth $144.5 million with the survivors and families of the victims of the tragic 2017 mass shooting in Texas. It was on Wednesday, April 5, that the settlement was reached with more than 75 plaintiffs and it has to have the assent of US District Judge Xavier Rodriguez of San Antonio.

The settlement will also end the government appeal of Rodriguez's judgment that it should pay $230 million over the massacre which took place on November 5, 2017, at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. As many as 26 people lost their lives when former Airman Devin Patrick Kelley sprayed bullets on the congregation. A court later found that the Air Force was primarily to blame for the carnage.

Kelley, who later killed himself, used guns that he was not supposed to buy. Apparently, during a 2012 court-martial, he admitted to hitting his former wife and stepson. Judge Rodriguez found that the Air Force was 60 percent responsible for its alleged lapse in entering Kelley’s plea in a database meant for conducting background checks before firearms are purchased.

The judge found that Kelley was 40 percent responsible for the crime, adding that not even his parents were aware of their son’s capacity for violence as the government. It was in February last year that damages were imposed.

In a statement, Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said, "No words or amount of money can diminish the immense tragedy of the mass shooting in Sutherland Springs. Today's announcement brings the litigation to a close, ending a painful chapter for the victims of this unthinkable crime."

The government had reached similar settlements in 2021 over mass shootings at Charleston, South Carolina church and the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The settlement amounts were $88 million and 127.5 million respectively.