Newtown Rejects $11 Million Lawsuit Settlement Offer From Sandy Hook Victims’ Families

July 16--The town of Newtown has rejected an offer by two families of children killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre to settle a pending civil lawsuit for $11 million.

Attorneys for the estates of Noah Pozner and Jesse Lewis had filed a motion last month offering to settle the lawsuit against the Newtown school district for $5.5 million each. The town had 30 days to accept the offer and attorney Donald Papcsy, who is representing the families, said the deadline passed this week.

Papcsy said he is now starting to go through the more than 8,000 pages of documents that have been turned over as part of the discovery process.

Much of that is the redacted state police report on the shooting made public two years ago, but the town also has turned over the school district's policies prior to the shooting on security and active shooter protocols.

Adam Lanza shot his way into the Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012, and opened fire in two classrooms. Lanza entered the school by shooting through the front glass windows and entering near the school offices.

He killed school Principal Dawn Hochsprung and school psychologist Mary Sherlach before entering the classrooms.

In one of those classrooms, substitute teacher Lauren Rousseau was unable to lock the door because she did not have a key.

Rousseau was assigned to the class shortly before school was set to open when the regular teacher called in sick. Rousseau tried to hide the students in a small bathroom, but Lanza walked into the room and opened fire, killing all but one girl.

Lanza killed 26 people, including 20 first-graders, in less than five minutes before shooting himself inside Victoria Soto's classroom.

The lawsuit alleges that Rousseau "had neither a key to lock the door nor any knowledge of the ... safety and security protocols rehearsed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in case an intruder or other dangerous individual gained access to the school."

The lawsuit also alleges the town was negligent in not having a more secure entrance to the school because it did not have bulletproof glass on the front windows and for having classroom doors that couldn't be locked from the inside.

The lawsuit also questions the lack of security in the parking lot. Lanza parked his car at the curb near the front, less than 100 feet from the entrance.

Charles DeLuca, the attorney representing Newtown and the school board, could not be reached for comment.

The offer to settle for $11 million was a procedural necessity for the plaintiffs. Now that the offer has been rejected, if the case goes to trial and the plaintiffs win, they can recover more in damages than the amount requested in the offer of compromise. Under state law, they could get an additional 8 percent interest on the total verdict amount.

The $11 million figure matches the maximum amount they can recover under the town's insurance coverage, Papcsy said.

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