US Justice Department settles with victims, families for racist mass shooting

CHICAGO, United States

Victims and family members of a mass shooting at a Black church in 2015 by a white supremacist will receive $88 million in a settlement announced Thursday by the Justice Department.

The FBI admitted Dylan Roof should not have been able to buy a pistol, since he had a prior felony arrest for illegal drug use.

Then-FBI Director James Comey said a paperwork error on a background check when Roof was trying to buy the gun, allowed the sale.

Roof was 21 when participated in a Bible study at Mother Emanuel AME Church in the state of South Carolina.

At the end of the session, he pulled out a pistol and shot 14 people, nine fatally. Roof later told investigators he held white supremacist views and targeted the church specifically because of its historically Black membership.

Then-President Barack Obama performed the eulogy for the victims.

Thursday's settlement will dole out anywhere from $5 million to $7.5 million to those who survived the shootings or the families of those killed.

Roof remains in prison where he is trying to appeal his death sentence.

The Justice Department said it has since strengthened its background check process.

It said the agency "hopes that these settlements, combined with its prosecution of the shooter, will bring some modicum of justice to the victims of this heinous act of hate."