BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (AP) The families of nine of the people killed in the Newtown school shooting have filed lawsuits against the estate of the gunman's mother.

The Connecticut Post reports the lawsuits contend that Nancy Lanza failed to properly secure the rifle that her troubled adult son, Adam Lanza, used to kill 20 children and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012. The lawsuits seek to collect on Nancy Lanza's homeowner's insurance.

Eight of the suits were filed in Superior Court in Bridgeport and one was filed in Danbury.

Twenty-year-old Adam Lanza killed his mother before carrying out the school massacre and committing suicide.

Newtown officials voted in January to raze the Lanzas' home after the town was able to purchase it from the Lanza estate for $1.