Judge will divide $1.5M in Red Lake shooting
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During a hearing Tuesday, Hennepin County Judge Lloyd Zimmerman said he'll decide how to split the money - and he'll work on moving the case to Red Lake so the affected families won't have to continue making the drive to the Twin Cities.
The settlement with MacNeil Environmental Inc. was reached last month, but the amount wasn't disclosed until Tuesday's hearing. As part of the settlement, MacNeil did not admit liability.
MacNeil had been hired to provide a crisis management plan, train school officials and evaluate the school's security weaknesses.
Seven people at the school were killed and several others were injured March 21, 2005, when 16-year-old Jeffrey Weise carried out the attack, which ended when Weise killed himself. Before he went to the school, Weise killed his grandfather and his grandfather's girlfriend on the Indian reservation in northwestern Minnesota.
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In 2006, a separate $1 million settlement was reached with the school district.
"It's been a long wait for them," said Gregory McEwen, an attorney for injured student Jeffrey May and other plaintiffs. "They've been living with this for a long time."
May, who charged Weise during the rampage and is credited with saving the lives of other students, has a brain injury, speech problems and walks with a cane.
The other severely injured student, Steven Cobenais, also has a brain injury and a glass eye.
Both May and Cobenais will require ongoing care for the rest of their lives, their attorneys said.
"They're catastrophically injured," said Richard Ruohonen, Cobenais' attorney. The attorneys said their clients' share of the $1.5 million won't begin to cover the cost of lifelong care, but it will help.
Philip Sieff, an attorney representing many of the families whose loved ones were killed in the shooting, said the judge is in the best position to decide how the settlement money should be divided.
"That's what we had requested, so we're thrilled that the judge was willing to take on that difficult task," Sieff said.
The next hearings will likely be scheduled in January.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
