Sixteen families of victims from the Sandy Hook shooting are set to be awarded around $94,000 each from the estate of Nancy Lanza, the shooter’s mother.
The two lawsuits that were filed in Probate Court against the estate alleged that Nancy Lanza “knew or should have known that [Adam Lanza’s] mental and emotional condition made him a danger to others,” the Los Angeles Times reported. Court documents noted that the mother kept her Bushmaster AR-15 in a gun safe in a room adjacent to Adam Lanza’s bedroom where he had easy access to it.
On Dec. 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza used the Bushmaster to shoot and kill 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School, 20 of which were first-graders. Before heading to the school, he shot and killed his mother while she was asleep in her bed. After the massacre, he shot and killed himself.
The first suite was filed by the families of six of the children who were gunned down. The second included 10 victims’ loved ones, including Debra Pisani and Natalie Hammond, two victims who were shot by Lanza’s stray bullets, but survived.
The families have agreed to split the $1.5 million from Nancy Lanza’s homeowner’s insurance policy that she had on the house she shared with her son. The settlements are waiting to be finalized in Superior Court, which should be done by the end of this month, according to the lawyers involved.
Some of the families in the suit are also suing Remington Outdoor Co., which distributes Bushmaster. The plaintiffs argue that the weapon, which has the ability to fire 30 rounds per minute and puncture body armor, should not be available to the general public due to being a military assault weapon.
Another lawsuit has been brought against Newtown, the town where the school is located. The court papers claim the town could have done more to secure the school and that a substitute teacher, Lauren Rousseau, was not able to lock her classroom door because she didn’t have a key. Lanza killed her and 14 of the 15 people in that room.
