DOVER, Del. (AP) - The city of Wilmington has agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of a black man shot to death by police while sitting in his wheelchair, officials said Friday.
Officials said in a prepared statement that the settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing by the city or its police officers in the September 2015 shooting of Jeremy McDole, nor a concession by the plaintiffs that their claims were unfounded.
“The parties are settling to avoid the burden and expense that comes with protracted litigation, and to bring closure to the matter,” officials said in a joint news release.
Police confronted McDole, who had been paralyzed in a 2005 shooting, after receiving a 911 call about an armed man who had fired a gun.
A bystander’s cellphone footage shows officers repeatedly telling McDole to drop his weapon and raise his hands and McDole reaching for his waist area before shots erupt.
The Delaware attorney general’s office concluded in a May report that criminal charges could not be brought against four Wilmington police officers involved in the incident. The agency’s investigation found that six officers at the scene all reported seeing a gun in McDole’s pants after he was shot. Investigators determined that the gun had been legally purchased in South Carolina in 2009 and later reported stolen from a vehicle glove compartment.
A detective said in a court affidavit that officers found a .38 caliber revolver with four spent casings and two live rounds in McDole’s underwear. Officials also have said toxicology tests found evidence of marijuana and PCP, or “angel dust,” in McDole’s bloodstream.
The attorney general’s report cited an unnamed individual who told investigators that on the morning of the shooting, he had wheeled McDole to the “Browntown” section of Wilmington so McDole could get a gun and PCP-laced cigarettes.
Attorneys for McDole’s family claimed that, among other things, he was the victim of intentional racial discrimination and the officers would not have shot a white person in such a situation.
Attorneys for the city rejected any claim of racial discrimination, saying the officers acted reasonably and feared for their lives and the lives of others.
The city acknowledged in the settlement that the Wilmington Police Department has incorporated certain matters addressed in the attorney general’s report in its regular review of its policies and training, including its training on de-escalation.
The WPD also agreed to meet with members of McDole’s family and retired federal Judge Joseph Farnan Jr. to discuss the status of the review process and to consider their suggestions.
“The foregoing are not intended as a concession by the city that there are (or were) shortcomings in the WPD’s policies or training,” officials said in Friday’s release. “Instead, the WPD remains committed to ensuring that its policies and training are up to date and remain consistent with acceptable police procedures.”
Officials with the Delaware Department of Justice said their investigation revealed serious deficiencies in the Wilmington police department’s use-of-force policies and training, and in preparing officers to deal with people with mental illness and other disabilities.
A federal judge will hold a Jan. 10 hearing to consider whether to approve the settlement.
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