Columbine Families Reach Settlement

Families Reach Agreement With Gun Sellers, Buyer, Harris And Klebold Families

All 36 Columbine families have reached a settlement in lawsuits brought against gun sellers Mark Manes and Phillip Duran and buyer Robyn Anderson, lawyers said Thursday.

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Columbine Father Presses For New Federal Gun Rules Many of the victims' families have also settled with the families of shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, according to Steve Wahlberg, an attorney involved with the negotiations. In their lawsuits, victims' families and survivors alleged the parents were negligent by allowing their sons to amass the weapons used in the rampage. Manes and Duran were accused of negligence in providing the weapons to Harris and Klebold. Duran pleaded guilty to supplying a minor with handgun and was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison. Manes is serving a six-year sentence for selling a gun to Harris and Klebold. Insurance companies for the five defendants have agreed to contribute different amounts to the settlement. The families of shooters Harris and Klebold will contribute a combined total of $1.6 million, with $300,000 coming from the Harris' homeowners insurance and the rest from the Klebold's insurance company, according to 7News. A combined total of $1.3 million will be contributed by the insurance companies for Duran, Manes and Anderson. The settlement money will be divided among the 36 families based on their level of loss, which will be determined by a retired federal judge approved by both sides of the agreement. Lawyers said that $120,000 would be withheld for future claims. Wahlberg said that it was unclear if all the families would accept awards. "What they want to do with proceeds is, they want proceeds to go to more injured families. We know that there are some of the 30 families that have come to us and told us that, again, they don't wish to participate, but they wish to receive an award and pass it along to other charities or political causes," Wahlberg said. Six families elected to settle with only Manus and Duran, but not with the Anderson, Harris and Klebold families. Attorney Frank Patterson, who represents the Klebolds, said that they are continuing talks with the remaining families. "They continue to hope and pray that at some point they can tell their story," he said.

Brian Rohrbough, father of slain student Daniel Rohrbough, told 7News that the family settled with Manus and Duran because they provided the full disclosure that they were looking for. Rohrbough did not go into detail about the nature of the disclosure, according to 7News. Rohrbough said that neither the Anderson, Harris or Klebold families offered any kind of disclosure, and "we won't settle with anyone not willing to provide full disclosure." In his statement, Rohrbough also said that he is very happy for the families of injured students, adding that he thinks that it is "terrific" that they can move on, but he has different issues to contend with than those families. Jim Cederberg, the attorney for victim Richard Castaldo's family, told 7News that the decision for his clients to settle was more of a practical issue versus what was reasonable damages. Cederberg said that it was a "reasonable business decision." Cederberg would not say how much they anticipate receiving. He said that attorneys representing all the families have been working on this for about 8 months. Thursday's settlement is by no means a conclusion to the lawsuits resulting from the tragedy, according to 7News. Not all the families have settled with all the defendants, and there are still lawsuits pending against the school district and sheriff's department that were not involved in Thursday's agreement. It was lunchtime on April 20, 1999, when Harris and Klebold strode onto the Columbine campus near Littleton, killing 12 classmates and a teacher and wounding 26 students before committing suicide in the library. Previous Stories: