District to pay $25M to Parkland victims

A $25 million settlement has been reached between the Broward County School Board and 52 victims of the February 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, according to an attorney for some of the victims.

Attorney David Brill said the settlement of the lawsuit includes all of the families of the 17 who died, 16 of 17 victims who were shot but survived, and 19 victims who suffer from PTSD or other ailments.

Asked about Broward County Public Schools comment the matter is still pending litigation, Brill said the parties are finalizing documentation of the settlement of the lawsuit, which accused the board of negligence.

School system officials said they do not comment on pending litigation.

The agreement will not include any admission of wrongdoing by the school board, Brill said.

“This settlement provides a measure of justice and accountability to them and the other families and victims,” he said. “The settlement is fair and frankly remarkable,” he said.

Brill represents the parents of four students who were killed and a fifth student who survived multiple gunshot wounds.

Brill told CNN the final steps of the settlement are expected to conclude within two weeks.

The agreement comes as Nikolas Cruz is set to plead guilty today for the Valentine’s Day 2018 shooting, according to his attorney.

Cruz is charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the shooting at the school in the city of Parkland, the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history.

If accepted, the plea would start to wrap up a legal chapter in a massacre that scarred a community and spawned a massive national protest movement against gun violence in American schools.

Cruz’s defense team had long ago offered a guilty plea in exchange for life in prison without the possibility of parole, but only if prosecutors took the death penalty off the table. Prosecutors had rejected it, saying they were seeking the death penalty.

Last week, the Broward State Attorney’s Office released a statement saying “there have been no plea negotiations with the prosecution,” and “if he pleads guilty, there would still be a penalty phase.”