Proposal: Families Of Newtown Victims Would Split $1.5M
HARTFORD, Conn. (CBSNewYork/AP) — The families of more than a dozen victims of the Newtown, Connecticut, school shooting will each receive about $94,000 under proposed settlements of lawsuits against the estate of the gunman's mother.
Two lawsuits claim Nancy Lanza failed to properly secure her legally owned Bushmaster AR-15 rifle and gave access to her son who she knew was mentally ill, WCBS 880's Marla Diamond reported.
Proposal: Families Of Newtown Victims Would Split $1.5M
Her son, 20-year-old Adam, used the rifle to kill 20 first-graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012 after fatally shooting his mother.
Many of the families are also suing the distributor of the Bushmaster. Claiming the rifle, which can fire up to 30 rounds a minute and is capable of piercing body armor, shouldn't be available to the general public because it's a military assault weapon.
The settlement proposals were disclosed in probate court documents filed Monday and first reported by The Hartford Courant. Lawyer Joshua Koskoff represents several families and told The Associated Press that about 16 families suing Nancy Lanza's estate would evenly split the $1.5 million if a judge approves the plan.
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