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Remington offers $33 million to families of Sandy Hook school shooting victims

By Tom Hals and Jonathan Stempel

July 27 (Reuters) - Remington Arms Co on Tuesday offered to pay nearly $33 million to nine families to settle lawsuits claiming that its marketing of firearms contributed to the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, where 26 people died.

The proposed settlements would provide $3.66 million to relatives of each victim, subject to approval by a federal judge overseeing Remington's bankruptcy case in Alabama.

A representative for the families had no immediate comment.

Twenty students and six adults were killed on Dec. 14, 2012, by gunman Adam Lanza, who used a Remington Bushmaster rifle as he shot his way into the Sandy Hook Elementary School after shooting his mother to death at home.

The massacre ended when Lanza committed suicide as he heard police sirens approach.

Only nine families of deceased school children sued Remington.

Remington disclosed the proposed settlements in filings with the Connecticut Superior Court in Waterbury.

The gunmaker had filed for bankruptcy protection in 2018 and emerged the same year under the control of its creditors. It filed a second time last July as more retailers began restricting gun sales following other school shootings. (Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Del., and Jonathan Stempel in New York Editing by Matthew Lewis)