Aurora Massacre Victims Split $5 Million Donations: Severity Of Injuries Determine Payout From Donations
It has been nearly three months since a screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" turned to tragedy in Aurora, Colo., on July 3, and victims of the shooting are finally close to getting some compensation to soothe their pain.
The Aurora Victim Relief Fund has been bolstered with donations of approximately $5 million and a statement from the office of Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper detailed how the money will be divided among the victims of the Aurora shooting.
Kenneth Feinberg, a seasoned mediator who has been tasked with deciding how to fairly divide the $4,961,739 among those who suffered from the shooting, has developed a formula for distributing the funds.
The first chunk will go to the families of the 12 people who were killed in the movie theater, as well as several who suffered permanent injuries. Those families will split 70 percent of the Victim Relief Fund, which amounts to about $200,000 per family.
The other 30 percent of the money will go to victims who were physically injured in the attack carried out by James Holmes, who is still in custody facing murder charges.
Feinberg explained that because the Relief Fund is limited, he had to decide where to cut off the payouts. Victims who did not require overnight hospitalization or who did not suffer physical harm from the shooting will not get any money. Instead, the cash will be reserved for those whose injuries were severe enough that they recquired long-term hospital care.
Within that group, the money will be further divided based on the length of the hospital stay. Feinberg said those parameters are as follows: "victims hospitalized for 20 days or more; victims hospitalized for between eight and 19 days; and victims hospitalized between one and seven days."
Colorado Gov. Hickenlooper praised Feinberg's delicate handling of the fund and his ability to distribute the compensation fairly.
"We are extremely grateful to Ken Feinberg for his service to victims and their families and to the state of Colorado," the governor said. "He has proven once again why he is the nation's leading expert in handling these kinds of matters. Those most impacted by the theater shooting are best served by a speedy and fair distribution of the Aurora Victim Relief Fund and Ken is delivering as promised."
