Movie theater owner Cinemark, which was sued by victims of the 2012 Aurora, Colorado, shooting that left 12 people dead and 70 injured, dropped a claim on Tuesday for nearly $700,000 in legal fees, according to the Denver Post.
Cinemark’s legal team filed a “bill of costs” for $699,187.13 in early June in Arapahoe County District Court for fees associated with a lawsuit filed by survivors of those murdered that was eventually won by the theater chain.
The company’s decision to drop the claim bookends a long legal battle between the two parties.
Private negotiations between Cinemark and the shooting survivors that occurred in late June were pieced together in a recent Los Angeles Times report that also outlined the financial fallout that the four victims faced.
The survivors, who claim Cinemark was negligent, were unsatisfied with the terms of a lawsuit settlement and knew that rejecting it could have harsh financial repercussions.
“Either seek justice and go into debt, or take that pitiful offering of money and the improved public safety,” theater shooting survivor Marcus Weaver told the L.A. Times.
The plaintiffs contended that the Century Aurora 16 theater where shooter James Holmes opened fire during a screening of “The Dark Knight Rises” offered inadequate security.
Specifically, they claimed that the exit door used by Holmes to gain entrance to the theater should have had an alarm. They also asserted that a lack of armed guards and gaps in security camera coverage aided the attack.
Holmes was sentenced to life in prison last August when a jury could not reach a unanimous decision on whether to condemn him to death.
Cinemark did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Mass Shootings in America That Horrified All of Us (Photos)
Newtown, Conn. - On December 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School. They were between the ages of six and seven years old. He also killed six adult staff members.
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Washington D.C. — A former Navy reservist shot and killed 12 people on September 16, 2013, at a military facility. The gunman was killed.
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Tyrone, Mo. - On Feb. 27, 2015, Joseph Jesse Aldridge killed seven people — four of them relatives — in a door-to-door shooting spree before killing himself.
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Waco, Tex. - Nine people were killed and many more were injured after two biker gangs began firing at each other at a motorcycle club on May 17, 2015.
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Charleston, S.C. - Dylann Roof shot and killed nine people during a racially motivated shooting in a predominantly African-American church on June 17, 2015.
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Chattanooga, Tenn. - A gunman named Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez entered two military facilities on July 16, 2015, and killed four Marines and injured others, before he was killed.
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Umpqua, Ore. - On October 1, 2015, Chris Harper Mercer killed nine people and injured seven to nine more at Umpqua Community College before two police officers shot him. Mercer then committed suicide.
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San Bernardino, Calif. - 14 people were killed and another 21 injured after Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik opened fire during a holiday party on December 2, 2015. The pair were later killed during a shootout with police.
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Orlando, Fla. - 50 people were killed and 53 wounded on June 11, 2016, at Pulse, a gay nightclub. Just before the shooting, suspected killer Omar Mateen called 911 and pledged his allegiance to the terror group ISIS. Mateen was also shot an killed by police on the scene.
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TheWrap looks back at recent mass shootings that have happened on U.S. soil
Newtown, Conn. - On December 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School. They were between the ages of six and seven years old. He also killed six adult staff members.