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WASHINGTON: Survivors and families of victims of last year’s
Virginia Tech massacre will share a settlement from the state of
Virginia worth more than $11 million, their lawyers said Thursday.
“The historic settlement agreement with the
Commonwealth of Virginia will result in more than $11 million in
financial compensation, health benefits and nonmonetary assistance
for surviving family members and victims of the April 16, 2007
massacre at Virginia Tech,” attorneys Peter Grenier and Douglas
Fierberg said in a statement.
In exchange for “the substantial consideration
they will receive under the settlement agreement, the families
agreeing to this settlement are waiving their rights to sue the
Commonwealth of Virginia,” Fierberg told AFP.
Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine called the deal “a
reasonable resolution” to the horrific shooting rampage one year
ago that killed 32 students and staff at the school, wounding dozens
of others.
“On April 16, 2007, an unthinkable tragedy
took place on the campus of Virginia Tech,” Kaine said in a
statement. “For several months, the victims and victims’
families, their counsel, Virginia Tech, and officials of the
Commonwealth have worked with serious commitment and diligence
toward a reasonable resolution and response to the legitimate needs,
interests and concerns arising out of that horrific event.”
“A proposal for resolution has now been
accepted by a substantial majority of the victims and victims’
families,” the governor added, declining to release details of the
agreement.
The tragedy occurred last year when 23-year-old
student Cho Seung Hui went on a shooting rampage at Virginia Tech, a
state university with 29,000 full-time students.
“Families who lost loved ones will be
similarly compensated and cared for,” the statement said. “The
settlement will also result in the release of previously undisclosed
facts and information turned up by our firm’s investigation that
will enable the public to better understand the events which caused
this senseless tragedy and why this settlement with Virginia has
been reached,” it added.
-- AFP
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