The families of 16 victims of the December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School have agreed to split $1.5 million to settle two lawsuits against the estate of Nancy Lanza, according to court documents filed Monday.
Advertisement
NEWTOWN – When families of the children and educators killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings sued the estate of the gunman’s mother in March, an attorney predicted the $1.5 million claim would be settled quickly.
The lawsuits made essentially the same claim – that Nancy Lanza purchased the Bushmaster and kept it in her home, where her 20-year-old son had access to it. State police reports said the Bushmaster was kept in a gun safe that was in a room adjacent to Adam Lanza’s bedroom and that he had unlimited access to it. Newtown obtained possession of her home and tore it down this year, leaving it as open space for the near future, town officials said.
A probate court clerk said Monday the settlement must still be approved by Probate Court Judge Joseph Egan.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuits against Nancy Lanza’s estate are relatives of 14 people who died and two teachers who were injured in the shooting but survived. Koskoff said he and other lawyers are representing the families for free.
In January, the parents of two first-graders killed in the 2012 shootings filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the town and the Newtown Board of Education, claiming security measures were inadequate. Stamford attorney Samuel Starks is the estate’s administrator.
The lawsuits allege that the mother “knew or should have known that (Adam Lanza’s) mental and emotional condition made him a danger to others”.
The case against Bushmaster – which is seen as a longshot and a potential landmark case – involves some of the same families that successfully sued the Lanza estate as well as one of the same law firms – Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder.
Newtown demolished the Lanza home in late March after the bank donated the house to the town.
Lanza fired 155 shots in less than five minutes.
Advertisement
Substitute teacher Lauren Rousseau, who was killed, did not have a key to her classroom, and was unable lock Lanza out before he came in. Lanza, who used a handgun to take his own life, had killed his mother prior to the school massacre.
