Florida High School Massacre Families Get $25 Million Settlement From School District Over 2018 Shooting That Killed 17
Thousands of mourners hold candles during a candlelight vigil for victims of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida on February 15, 2018. - A former student, Nikolas Cruz, opened fire at the Florida high school leaving 17 people dead and 15 injured. RHONA WISE/AFP via Getty Images

The families of the 17 people killed in a Florida high school massacre in 2018 have reached a $25 million settlement with the Broward County school district in a lawsuit that accused it of negligence.

According to the families' attorney, David Brill, 52 families from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland will be part of the settlement. But he did not detail how much each family would receive.

Brill said the families of the 14 students and three staff members killed would get the largest shares and be equal, U.S. News reported.

The $25 million settlement came after the school district had won a state Supreme Court ruling that could have amounted total damages at $300,000 without approval from the Legislature.

Brill said the current settlement is fair given the circumstances. However, he noted that it is "nowhere near enough money" to compensate the victims. The Broward County school district has yet to comment on the matter.

Stoneman Douglas High School Mass Shooting in Florida

The gunman behind the 2018 shooting, Nikolas Cruz, would be pleading guilty to their murders, according to his attorneys.

The guilty plea would set up a penalty phase where the now 23-year-old suspect would fight against the death penalty and hope for a life without parole, Associated Press reported.

The pleas will come with no conditions, and prosecutors are still eyeing the death penalty. Cruz's guilt was widely perceived as a foregone conclusion after a video recording he made shortly before the killings emerged.

In one segment of the video, Nikolas Cruz said that people would know who he was with the "power" of his AR, NPR reported. He added that his life was nothing and meaningless, saying that he lives in seclusion and solitude. Cruz said he hates "everyone and everything."

According to Cruz, he has not been on medication for about a year. He was earlier told that he suffered from anxiety and depression, but he was not formally diagnosed and was mentally fit to plead guilty.

Jury selection in Cruz's trial started earlier this month. Cruz was armed with an AR-15 when he killed 14 students and three staff members. He also managed to wound 17 others.

Nikolas Cruz had been expelled from the school the previous year, NBC News reported. He confessed to the attack, saying he had brought the weapon and several loaded magazines inside his backpack.

He also admitted to investigators that he planned to leave them behind in an effort to mix in with fleeing students. Nikolas Cruz has legally bought the .223-caliber rifle in 2017 in a federally licensed gun store.

The suspect, then 19, arrived at the campus in an Uber on February 14, 2018, assembled his rifle in a stairwell and then opened fire in the three-story classroom building.

Tony Montalto, the father of victim Gina Montalto, said that school shootings are a systemic and recurring issue in the country.

Parkland student activists had formed "March for Our Lives." It's a group clamoring for tight gun policies in the country.

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Written by: Mary Webber

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