$100,000 for Va. Tech Shooting Victims?

March 25th, 2008 at 04:04pm Andrea Zimmermann

Virginia has offered to give $100,000 to each of the families of the 32 people killed during the April 16 Virginia Tech shooting spree last year and similar compensation to those who were injured.

However, that proposal, which includes a confidentiality clause, is not sitting well with everyone.

The money would come from taxpayers’ wallets, according to the Washington Post.

Under the proposed offer, the state would not admit liability but would justify the payments as a way to avoid a series of lawsuits. The offer came after several weeks of closed-door talks between attorneys for the state and attorneys for families of the victims. […]

As part of the deal, the state would create a fund to help pay for the medical expenses of some of the more than two dozen students and faculty members injured in the shooting, state officials familiar with the offer said. The families of the 32 victims killed by the shooter would get about $100,000 each. The money would come from taxpayers.

Money is only one facet of the settlement, which the Virginian-Pilot detailed here.

Those who survived the shootings say $100,000, which is the maximum the state can pay in damages, would not begin to cover their long-term health costs.

Roger O’Dell of Roanoke, whose son, Derek, was wounded, said families were asked not to discuss the settlement negotiations. He added that his son has made no decision - he doesn’t want to become adversarial toward the school that he loves, but he has been told his lifetime counseling costs could range from $125,000 to $500,000, plus higher health-insurance costs because of his pre-existing conditions.

Post-traumatic stress disorder “could flare up at any time and could be disabling without regular treatment,” Roger O’Dell said. “He’ll have constant reminders because he’ll have the bullet holes.”

In the fall, the victims received money from the Hokie Memorial Fund, in which people donated close to $8.5 million to go toward the families, the injured and the school.

In the wake of the Feb. 14 shootings at NIU and other campus shootings recent years, it is likely that we will see more of these sort of lawsuits surface.

Is $100,000 enough for a life cut short or a life to be forever hampered with long-term health issues? Should there be, or can there be, a uniform policy for this sort of thing, as one commenter asked on a New York Times’ blog?

Entry Filed under: Northern Illinois University