A judge has signed off on a $2.5 million settlement between relatives of Washington, D.C.-area sniper victims and a gun shop and weapon maker connected to the shootings.
In the settlement reached in September, Bull's Eye Shooter Supply of Tacoma agreed to pay $2 million to two survivors and six families related to the victims of snipers John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo. Gun manufacturer Bushmaster Firearms of Windham, Maine, agreed to pay the remaining $500,000.
Bushmaster made the weapon used in the shootings, which the pair reportedly stole from Bull's Eye. The families' lawsuit alleged that the shop's owners were negligent in allowing that gun and others to disappear, and that Bushmaster was at fault for shipping the gun to an irresponsible dealer.
It marked the first time a gun manufacturer has agreed to pay damages to settle claims of negligent distribution of weapons, according to the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which helped the families file the lawsuit.
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