The U.S. Justice Department said Thursday it had reached an $88 million settlement over the 2015 mass shooting at a Black church in Charleston, South Carolina, that left nine people dead.
The families of the “Emanuel Nine” alleged the FBI was negligent for failing to stop the shooter, self-proclaimed white supremacist Dylann Roof, from purchasing the weapon.
They said the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Checks System was too slow and did not alert the gun store owner that Roof was prohibited from purchasing a gun.
"The mass shooting at Mother Emanuel AME Church was a horrific hate crime that caused immeasurable suffering for the families of the victims and the survivors," Attorney General Merrick Garland said, announcing the settlement.
"Since the day of the shooting, the Justice Department has sought to bring justice to the community, first by a successful hate crime prosecution, and today by settling civil claims."
The awards range from $6 million to $7.5 million for relatives of the nine victims and $5 million for each of the five survivors.
Roof, 27, is facing the death penalty for his crime.
Some information in this report came from Agence France-Presse.
