The family of a 19-year-old man who was fatally shot by a South Carolina police officer last year has settled its wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Seneca for $2.15 million.
The settlement, nearly 10 times higher than a figure offered last week by city leaders, comes as a federal investigation continues into the officer’s actions. State prosecutors have said they won’t pursue charges of their own.
Eric Bland, the attorney for the family of Zachary Hammond, announced the settlement agreement in a news release Tuesday. He and Hammond’s parents planned to discuss the matter Wednesday afternoon at a news conference. Attorneys representing the city didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment.
The settlement doesn’t admit fault on the part of the city, the police chief or the officer who shot and killed the unarmed teenager in an attempted undercover drug arrest on July 26. The officer said he fired because he was afraid of being run over by Hammond’s fleeing car. Hammond was white, as is the officer.
According to the family’s wrongful death lawsuit, filed last year, Lt. Mark Tiller threatened to blow Hammond’s head off before shooting him and another officer gave the dead teen’s body a high-five.
Dashcam video of the shooting shows Tiller yelling at Hammond to put up his hands and stop his car, but he instead drives away before being fatally shot. In the video, the officer grabs the left front fender of the gray sedan as the car keeps moving away in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant. The officer shoots as the car drives by.
The car then moves out of view of the camera, but the audio picks up the sounds of crying, and an officer telling someone to again put their hands up.
Tiller has previously said through his attorney that he thought Hammond was threatening to run him over and fired to protect himself. Local prosecutors have said that Tiller’s actions didn’t meet the standard for criminal prosecution on the state level, nothing that the officer was forced to decide in less than three seconds whether to fire his gun and that evidence supports his position.
The city had offered a $250,000 settlement last week. Federal authorities are continuing to investigate the case.
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http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/family-reaches-215m-settlement-fatal-police-shooting-38024131
there needs to come a time where something comes out of the backsides of the cops that pull this crap .. sucking the tit dry of us tax payers needs to come to an end
and 2 mil isnt enough payment for any pig to murder any of my kids , there isnt enough money to cover their act
You’re absolutely right, but it does get added to the total expense incurred by having cops on the payroll, so maybe communities will start deciding to fire them all.
Personally, I think it’s more likely that people will rise up against this madness long before any cops are fired, and if enough of them are shot, that may change their behavior a bit.
State prosecutors have said they won’t pursue charges of their own.
WHY THE HELL NOT.
Here’s some logic….
If the officer grabbed the fender of a moving car, then the car was leaving, not threatening the officer. The officer CHOSE to murder a child, and the prosecutor refuses to press charges because he’s in on the kick back, or he’s a coward, and he’s guilty of assisted murder.
Hang ’em all. Justice is dead.
State prosecutors have said they won’t pursue charges of their own.
WHY THE HELL NOT?
They don’t ever seem to “pursue charges” unless there’s public outcry, thereby encouraging the murders.