On Tuesday, a judge approved an $11 million settlement covering the families of the victims of the April 16, 2007, shootings on the campus of Virginia Tech. The settlement allows Virginia to avoid any further legal action as a result of the massacre carried out by Seung Hui Cho — a student with a history of mental problems, who killed 27 students and five teachers before committing suicide.
The settlement provides $100,000 plus medical expenses for the families of 28 of the victims who were killed, as well as the families of those wounded in the attack. It also promises a series of meetings between the families and Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, state police and Virginia Tech officials to discuss the administrative and legal changes made since the shootings.
But some of the families of the victims and those wounded in the worst college-campus massacre in U.S. history were still not happy with the state and the school. According to the Washington Post, after the deal was announced, some families called for further investigation into the roles the state and university played in the shootings.
"This has nothing to do with money and everything to do with seeking the truth and complete accountability," Joe Samaha, whose daughter Reema was killed in the attacks, told the paper.
An investigation ordered by Kaine's office found that the university should have shut down the campus and issued more direct warnings to students and faculty after Cho killed his first two victims in a dormitory early on the morning of April 16. The investigative panel also said that the state's mental-health system had failed to ensure that Cho receive proper treatment for his mental-health issues.
The Post reported that lawyers for 20 of the families released e-mails on Tuesday indicating that Virginia Tech warned employees to stay inside after the shootings began but did not issue a similar warning to students.
"Lives could have and should have been saved," said Peter Grenier, a lawyer whose firm led the negotiations for the settlement.
Two families did not file claims against the state, and two others weren't satisfied with the settlement and could still pursue a lawsuit. Last fall, the families of the dead and wounded received one-time payments ranging from $11,500 to $208,000 from the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund, which was funded by private donations after the shooting and will remain open for five more years to pay for scholarships.
In the wake of the shootings, a number of U.S. campuses upgraded their early warning and text messaging systems in an effort to provide students and faculty with faster access to information on urgent campus situations.
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