Nine Sandy Hook families settle liability claims with Remington Arms

By Tom Hals and Brendan O'Brien 

  (Reuters) - Remington Arms on Tuesday settled liability claims with the families of five adults and four children killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, court records showed, the first time a gun maker has been held liable for a mass shooting in the United States. 

  Twenty students and six adults were killed on Dec. 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut, by gunman Adam Lanza, who used a Remington Bushmaster rifle as he shot his way into the Sandy Hook Elementary School after shooting his mother to death at home. 

  The amount of the settlement was not disclosed in the court filing in Waterbury Superior Court. 

  In July, Remington Arms offered to pay nearly $33 million to the nine families. The proposed settlements would have provided $3.66 million to relatives of each victim. 

  Remington had filed for Chapter 11 protection in 2018 and emerged that same year under the control of its creditors. It filed for bankruptcy again in July 2020 after more retailers restricted gun sales following other school shootings. 

  The families are expected to discuss the settlement during a news conference at 11 a.m. EST. 

  (Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Chicago; Editing by Mark Porter)