5 KIDS HURT IN L.A. JCC SHOOTING AWARDED $2.25M

Five children hurt in a Los Angeles-area JCC shooting have been awarded a total of $2.25 million (JTA)
Five children hurt in a Los Angeles-area JCC shooting have been awarded a total of $2.25 million.

The children, all under 10 years old at the time, were injured physically and emotionally when parolee Buford Furrow Jr., 46, fired more than 70 rounds at the North Valley Jewish Community Center in 1999.

Under a settlement reached last week, the Washington State Department of Corrections will pay the families who had filed a $15-million claim against the agency for not properly supervising Furrow, who had been amassing firearms in his home, The Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.

Furrow, a self-avowed white supremacist, had tried to commit himself to a psychiatric hospital in Washington state in 1998 but threatened staff members with a knife. He was arrested, pleaded guilty and served 5 1/2 months in prison for assault with a deadly weapon.

The gunman told police the JCC attack was a "wake-up call to America to kill Jews," according to the Times.

Furrow also shot a mail carrier to death at point-blank range immediately following his JCC rampage. He is serving a life sentence in prison.