ROCKY MOUNT, Va., Feb. 15 (UPI) -- A Virginia judge has urged lawyers for Virginia Tech and the families of two people killed in a mass shooting on the school's campus to settle out of court.
Plaintiffs' attorney Bob Hall and Tech lawyers agreed to resume settlement talks after Special Justice William Alexander said Tuesday litigating the events of April 2007 in a trial "hurts everybody. It hurts Tech. It hurts everybody."
Hall represents the estates of slain students Erin Peterson and Julia Pryde in a $10 million wrongful death lawsuit, The Roanoke (Va.) Times reported. If the lawyers do not agree on a settlement, the trial is scheduled for March 5 to 9.
The families of 28 other victims settled in 2008 for $100,000 and two other families declined to file any claim.
Alexander said Tuesday he will not reconsider his dismissal of Virginia Tech President Charles Stegner from the lawsuit, which was requested by one of the plaintiff's lawyers.
Seung-Hui Cho opened fire at the university April 16, 2007. He initially killed two people at 7:15 a.m., and then killed 30 more 2 hours later -- after police thought he had left the campus.
The school came under fire for failing to notify students and faculty of the 7:15 a.m. shootings, the newspaper said.
Cho shot and killed himself as police closed in on him the day of the massacre.
