On Monday, a federal judge ordered the United States Air Force to pay more than $230 million to families of twenty-six people killed and the victims of the 2017 attack in Sutherland Springs, Texas. It ordered the Air Force because it failed to report the criminal history of the shooter.
A United States federal judge ruled Monday that the Air Force must pay over $230 million in damages to victims’ families and survivors of a 2017 Texas church slaughter for failing to label a verdict that might keep the shooter from legally acquiring the gun used in the killing.
— Live News Now (@LiveNewsNow6) February 8, 2022
Xavier Rodriguez, the Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, wrote in his ruling that the Air Force could stop the killer – Devin P. Kelley, who previously served on a New Mexican Air Force base – from acquiring the rifle he used to kill twenty-six people on 5th November 2017, at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas.
The judge further wrote that for its failure to report the 2012 conviction of Kelley for a domestic attack, the United States Air Force must pay damage costs to the victims for their mental anguish, damage, pain & suffering, loss of companionship, and disfigurement. Moreover, the ruling from the judge came in a lawsuit brought against the central government by the victim families.
Additionally, the judge wrote that there is no convincing way to find out the worth of the pain of these families. Previously, Judge Rodriguez ruled in July that the Air Force was 60% responsible for the extermination. Under federal law, Kelly shouldn’t allow purchasing the military-style rifle or three other weapons he bought before the shooting.
Gun Control in the United States
- The children’s gun crisis
- Inside the homicide surge of 2021
- American Arms Race
- Understand Ghost Guns
Source: Web
After Kelly was convicted of household assault against his stepson and wife, he acquired the weapons, whose skull he confessed to cracked. In 2014, Air Force discharged Kelly amid his bad conduct after around five years of service. After the incident, the U.S. Air Force acknowledged its mistake and said it should report Kelly’s conviction to the FBI.
Read Also: Michigan School Shooting Killed 3 and Injured 8
