Justice Department is appealing $230 million verdict for survivors of Sutherland Springs mass shooting

The Justice Department filed notice Monday that it is appealing a San Antonio judge's $230 million verdict for relatives of the survivors and families of victims of the 2017 mass shooting in Sutherland Springs. In February, U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez ordered the U.S. government to pay more than $230 million in damages for the Air Force’s failure to report the gunman’s violent criminal history to the national firearms database. The judge also later ruled the government should pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for the families’ court costs. Rodriguez said adding disgraced former airman Devin Kelley’s name to the database could have prevented him from buying his assault-style rifle. On Nov. 5, 2017, Kelley opened fire inside First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs with an AR-556 rifle, killing 26 people and wounding more than 20 others. His wife attended the church, but Kelley had tied her up at their New Braunfels home before going on the rampage in Sutherland Springs, about 35 miles to the south.

Lawyers for the Justice Department’s civil division didn’t say in their filings Monday why they are appealing Rodriguez’s decision to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. The government is expected to sketch its case for an appeal in later filings. Lawyers for survivors and families of the victims say the government is likely to make arguments similar to ones struck down at trial. “The government is appealing the finding that they should be held responsible for not following their own background check system,”said Jamal Alsaffar, who was the lead lawyer for the families at trial. “They are also appealing the finding that the federal background check systems actually work and prevent mass shootings like the one at Sutherland Springs and others.” The San Antonio federal judge’s verdict is the largest award in recent memory over a mass shooting in the United States. Plaintiffs’ lawyers said it would compensate the more than 80 family members of victims and survivors who filed suit.