The state-operated school district for the city of Newark agreed to pay $5 million to settle an Essex County suit over the shooting of four people, three fatally, at the Mount Vernon School playground on Aug. 4, 2007.

The Feb. 11, 2013, settlement, one of two tied for the second-highest against a public entity last year, was achieved by plaintiff lawyers Ronald Riccio, Michael Marone and Robert Scrivo, all of McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter in Morristown.