The families of nine people who were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018, have agreed to pay the U.S. government $3.5 million to settle their civil lawsuit.
The families of Jaime Guttenberg, whose little brother, Jesse, was among the victims, were among the individuals who had sued the government. Like many other families, their settlement is reportedly in return for immunity from prosecution for past or future wrongdoing. As the Sun Sentinel reports, the U.S. Department of Justice had alleged that the FBI had failed to act on information that the school shooter was on a “kill list” compiled by an individual other than Cruz. Authorities reportedly waited more than a month before evacuating students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
During the course of its investigation, the FBI said it received a tip about Cruz, warning that he “is a troubled individual who is obsessed with guns and violent video games.”
Though there were certain indications that the FBI had received this information, federal authorities subsequently said that they believed Cruz had committed a “domestic violence incident.”