Officials in North Charleston, South Carolina, have reached a US$6.5 million (NZ$9.7 million) settlement with the family of Walter Scott, the unarmed black man whom a bystander video captured being shot in the back by a white police officer after fleeing a traffic stop on foot in March.
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North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey is at left. Earlier that summer, another black man, Eric Garner, was killed when a New York police officer put him in a chokehold.
Walter Scott was shot in the back five times as he tried to run away from city police officer Michael Slager on 4 April after being pulled over, reportedly for a broken brake light.
The North Charleston City Council approved the settlement on Thursday night.
The council had met several times in the past few months to receive advice from city lawyer Brady Hair on a potential lawsuit from Mr Scott’s family.
Through numerous meetings between the city and the family’s lawyers, we worked through many issues of concern and both sides believe that positive steps have been taken and relations between the NCPD and the community are improving and will continue to improve.
The settlement agreement comes as Michael Slager, the former officer charged in Scott’s killing, remains in jail awaiting court proceedings on charges related to the shooting. This is a very hard period for the Scott family.
“This is a small victory”, said Anthony Scott, Walter Scott’s brother told the Washington Post. “But I thank them for what they did”, Scott’s mother, Judy, said of the settlement.
The mayor said that since the shooting, North Charleston police have been outfitted with body cameras. He said attorneys also had to consider the damage a drawn-out legal battle might do to the city and its residents.
Hair said the $6.5 million represents the largest settlement for such a case in the state’s history.
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Slager faces 30 years to life in prison without parole if he is convicted. He says “Mr. Scott was trying just to get away from the Taser”. There were no aggravating circumstances such as robbery or kidnapping, so the death penalty doesn’t apply in the case, the prosecutor has said.
