Columbine Victims Get $2.65-Million Settlement

The parents of two teenagers who carried out the Columbine High School massacre and two men who furnished them weapons have agreed to pay $2.65 million to victims in a partial settlement, lawyers said Thursday, the eve of the second anniversary of the shooting.

The parents of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold have agreed to pay nearly $1.6 million to the victims, to be covered by their insurance carriers.

The two gunmen killed 13 people and wounded about 20 others on April 20, 1999, at the Littleton, Colo., school.

The two turned their guns on themselves, leaving unanswered many questions about what prompted the attack.

Mark Manes, who bought a semiautomatic weapon used in the massacre, will pay $800,000, and Phillip Duran, who introduced the teenage gunmen to Manes, will pay $250,000. Manes and Duran are serving prison terms for furnishing guns to Harris, who was 18, and Klebold, 17.

Thursday’s settlement does not cover lawsuits filed against the Jefferson County sheriff’s office or the school district.

Six plaintiffs declined to take part in the settlement offer with the Harris and Klebold families because they still want more information from the parents, their lawyer, James Rouse, said.

The agreement came on a day when state Sen. Doug Linkhart proposed raising the legal age to own a handgun in Colorado from 18 to 21.

“Between 18 and 24 is where most of the gun deaths happen,” Linkhart said after introducing his bill.