Families of 9 killed by Dylann Roof in South Carolina church reach settlement with Justice Department

Families of nine victims killed in a racist attack at a Black South Carolina church have reached a settlement with the Justice Department over a faulty background check that allowed Dylann Roof to purchase the gun he used in the 2015 massacre

Charleston Church Shooting

Families of nine victims killed in a racist attack at a Black South Carolina church have reached a settlement with the Justice Department over a faulty background check that allowed Dylann Roof to purchase the gun he used in the 2015 massacre.

The $88 million deal, which includes $63 million for the families of the slain and $25 million for survivors of the shooting, was set to be announced Thursday in Washington according to lawyers involved in the settlement.

Weeks before the church shooting, Roof had been arrested on Feb. 28, 2015 by Columbia South Carolina, police on a drug possession charge. But a series of clerical errors and missteps allowed Roof to buy the handgun he later used in the massacre.