May 22 (Reuters) -

The city of Uvalde has reached a $2 million settlement with

families of the victims of a 2022 mass shooting at a public

school in the Texas city, one of their lawyers said on

Wednesday, ahead of the second anniversary of the massacre.

In one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history, 19

children and two teachers were killed on May 24, 2022, when a

gunman entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde and barricaded

himself inside adjoining classrooms with dozens of students.

A U.S. Justice Department review found that local police had

ignored accepted practices by failing to confront the gunman,

instead waiting outside the classroom for more than an hour

despite calls for help from the children.

"The city of Uvalde has agreed to pay its insurance of $2

million, which is all that there was," Josh Koskoff, who

represented families of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School

shooting, said at a briefing to announce the agreement.

He said the settlement involved the families of 17 of

the children who were killed and two children who survived.

Under the settlement, families agreed not to sue the city,

Koskoff said. But families would sue the state of Texas and the

federal government over the response of their law enforcement

officers to the massacre, he added.

State and federal officers made up the majority of the 376

law enforcement operatives who waited 77 minutes before

confronting and killing the 18-year-old gunman, Koskoff said.

Families of the victims filed a

lawsuit

in December 2022 against local and state police, the city,

and other school and law enforcement officials seeking at least

$27 billion and class-action status for survivors over delays in

confronting the attacker.

It was not immediately clear how the settlement would

affect the earlier lawsuit.

At least two lawsuits have been filed against Daniel

Defense, the Georgia-based company that made the AR-style rifle

used by the gunman.

Families of the victims have called for criminal charges

against officers involved in the stalled response.

Uvalde District Attorney Christina Mitchell has launched

a criminal investigation into the incident and a grand jury was

convened in January.