SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The U.S. Air Force has been ordered to pay more than $230 million in damages to survivors and victims’ families for a deadly shooting at a Texas church.
The ruling comes from a Texas federal judge who earlier decided that the Air Force was liable for the massacre carried out by a former serviceman.
More than two dozen people were killed in the 2017 attack in Sutherland Springs when Devin Patrick Kelley opened fire during a Sunday service.
A lawsuit alleged the Air Force might have prevented the deaths by flagging Kelley’s prior assault conviction, preventing him from legally buying the weapon used in the shooting.
The Texas Supreme Court previously ruled that the victims' families could not sue the store that sold Kelley the firearms. The ruling noted that the store conducted the required background check which did not show Kelley's charges.