The families of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, Conn., have reached a settlement in their lawsuit against the maker of the AR-15-style weapon used in the attack.

Remington, which made the weapon, had proposed settling with the families for $33 million as a trial date loomed.

Court documents filed on Tuesday morning did not specify the amount of the settlement, but a lawyer for the families said in a statement that the settlement was for $73 million.

Twenty schoolchildren and six adults were killed when a 20-year-old man stormed into the elementary school and set off a spray of gunfire.

The agreement represents a blow to the firearm industry because the lawsuit employed a novel strategy aimed at piercing the vast shield enshrined in federal law protecting gun companies from litigation.