text: The family of Walter L. Scott, the African-American man who was fatally shot by a white police officer in North Charleston, S.C., reached a $6.5 million settlement with the city Thursday that precludes Mr. Scott’s family from bringing civil claims over his death. 
   
   The North Charleston City Council voted to authorize the settlement at its meeting Thursday night, according to lawyers for the Scott family and a statement issued by the city. 
   
   A passer-by’s video of the April 4 killing appears to show the officer shooting Mr. Scott in the back while he was running away. The shooting sparked a national furor and became part of a broad and passionate conversation about American policing methods and the fate of African-Americans at the hands of some officers. 
   
   The police officer, Michael T. Slager, was fired shortly after the shooting. He has been jailed since April 7. In June, he was indicted by a grand jury on a murder charge. Mr. Slager has not been arraigned, but Andy Savage, his lawyer, said that Mr. Slager denied any culpability for the killing. ||||| The family of Walter Scott will get a settlement of $6.5 million from the city of North Charleston, the largest such payout in the recent high-profile killings of black men by police officers. 
   
   With members of Scott’s family seated in the audience, City Council unanimously voted Thursday to approve the settlement, which City Attorney Brady Hair called “the largest settlement for this type of case in the state of South Carolina,” adding that he feels it’s in line with settlements on similar cases nationwide. 
   
   Scott, 50, a black man, was shot April 4 by white North Charleston police officer Michael Slager. Cellphone video captured by a passerby showed the officer shooting Scott in the back. 
   
   Although the killing sparked protests at City Hall, there was no violence as there has been in other cities where similar incidents have occurred, such as Ferguson, Mo., and Baltimore. City officials and family members credited the peaceful response of the public and the city’s swift action in arresting Slager with facilitating a settlement. 
   
   “We are very proud that we were able to settle a case of this magnitude without a brick being thrown, without a fire being set and without a lawsuit being filed,” said Hair. 
   
   North Charleston officials said they have been talking with Scott family lawyers for several months. 
   
   “We agreed ... to try to resolve the case without a lawsuit,” Hair said. “We had lots of open, honest, cordial discussions with them. We didn’t agree on everything but it was a very unique way of handling the situation. We’ve never done it like this before. ... but we felt that if we could come to a resolution without a lawsuit being filed, without depositions and without press coverage of every step both sides made, that it would be healthier for both the family and the city.” 
   
   Days after the Scott slaying, lawyers for the family said they planned to file suits against Slager, 33, for civil rights violation and wrongful death, but no suits were filed. During several meetings over the past few months, City Council has gone into closed session to receive advice from Hair on a potential lawsuit. 
   
   Slager was indicted on a murder charge in June, and in September Circuit Judge Clifton Newman denied bail, calling the evidence against Slager “persuasive.” 
   
   Anthony Scott, Walter Scott’s brother, said Thursday, “Though nothing can replace having Walter in our lives, the city of North Charleston’s historic actions ensure that he did not die in vain. This city sent a message loud and clear that this kind of reckless behavior exhibited by members of law enforcement will not and shall not be tolerated.” 
   
   The settlement also protects current or former city employees from being sued in the case. 
   
   “The Eric Garner case in New York and the Freddie Gray case in Baltimore really set the tone for the range of numbers that we thought was consistent with what was going on,” said Hair. “We think it is a really fair settlement and a good one. It’s a lot of money but we had to realistically face the fact that the potential for a very large verdict was there because of the video and because we have a police officer who is charged with murder.” 
   
   Asked how the parties arrived at a figure, Chris Stewart, a lawyer for the Scott family, said, “You have to be realistic. There is no way that this city could pay $50 million ... You can go to your corner being unrealistic and just fight with the other side, and at the end of the day also harm the city and innocent people that had nothing to do with the situation.” 
   
   Mayor Keith Summey said it was important for the city to acknowledge the harm done to Scott and his family. 
   
   “(Nothing) negates the fact that (Slager) shot the guy in the back and we’re wrong,” said Summey. “From Day 1, we have said, ‘When you’re wrong, you’re wrong,’ and there was no doubt in our mind that it was going to cost us. Even though I think we handled it completely appropriately, it was still going to cost us.” 
   
   The settlement will allow the family and the city to move on, Hair said. 
   
   “We think that it is a good resolution and a fair one,” Hair said. “This would have been the thing that we dealt with the next several years and that’s not fair to our citizens, not fair to our Police Department and frankly, not fair to the family.” 
   
   “It’s time to move on, bottom line,” said Police Chief Eddie Driggers. “It’s time to move on and do what people pay us to do — to serve and protect. We have 343 sworn officers trying to do what’s right by the citizens they serve.” 
   
   Stewart said he could not address how the money will be divided among family members, “but his (four) children will be taken care of.” 
   
   In addition, a portion of the settlement money will be donated to the Red Cross to aid flood victims, Anthony Scott said. 
   
   Talks are ongoing with the state Insurance Reserve Fund, but as of now, about $1 million of the settlement will come from the Insurance Reserve Fund and the rest will come from the city’s fund balance, which currently is about $18 million. It will not affect the city’s bond rating, Summey said. 
   
   “This entire situation has been almost a blueprint of how these situations should be handled,” Stewart said of the settlement. “They came to the table willing to talk, willing to work things out. They didn’t just give away $6.5 million. We had to fight, argue, battle, got at each other for a while, but peaceful resolution is always better.” 
   
   Justin Bamberg, a state representative who is also a Scott-family lawyer, said, “From start to this point, to hopefully a criminal conviction of the officer, we have set a prototype, the standard, for how these types of situations can be handled and should be handled, in that when you keep faith, when you respect one another ... things can work out.” 
   
   After the video was made public, Scott’s death became the focus of a nationwide discussion on police officers’ use of force against black men. The video showed Scott freeing himself from a struggle and running away as he was shot at eight times. 
   
   “The criminal process still has to run its course,” Hair said. “Getting this part of the matter behind everyone will help so that the criminal justice system can focus on that.” 
   
   Anthony Scott called the settlement a “bittersweet victory” and said the family will focus on the criminal trial. 
   
   “It is our hope that after a jury of his peers reviews the evidence, they’ll send an equally important message to law enforcement that there is no place for unnecessary violence against unarmed, fleeing individuals.” 
   
   Slager also is being sued by Julius Garnett Wilson, who has a history of drug arrests and a conviction for interfering with police, for allegedly shooting Wilson in the back with a Taser last year. The suit was filed in the wake of Scott’s shooting. 
   
   In July, New York City reached a $5.9 million settlement with the family of Garner to resolve a wrongful-death claim over his killing by the police on Staten Island a year earlier. The officer, Daniel Pantaleo, was not indicted in the case. 
   
   On July 17, 2014, two officers approached Garner, who was unarmed, and accused him of selling untaxed cigarettes. One of the officers used a chokehold to subdue Garner, and that hold, along with the compression of Garner’s chest by other officers who held him down, was cited when the medical examiner ruled the death a homicide. 
   
   Last month, the city of Baltimore approved a $6.4 million settlement with the family of Freddie Gray, who suffered a fatal spinal injury when the 25-year-old was handcuffed and shackled, but not buckled in, inside a police van in April. 
   
   Six officers charged in the case have pleaded not guilty and will stand trial on charges ranging from assault to murder. 
   
   In a case of an officer-involved shooting that went to trial recently, a federal jury last year awarded $97.5 million to the family of former Cottageville Mayor Bert Reeves. Reeves was fatally shot by a town police officer and the sum was settled earlier this year by both sides at $10 million. ||||| Officials in North Charleston, S.C., have reached a $6.5 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 April, according to the Scott family. 
   
   “It’s historic,” said Chris Stewart, an attorney for the Scott family. “It sets a good precedent for a city not tolerating this sort of behavior from police officers.” 
   
   Former police officer Michael Slager, who is charged with murder for shooting Walter Scott (Reuters/Randall Hill) 
   
   Scott’s death was one of half a dozen cases of unarmed black men being killed by police officers in late 2014 and early 2015 that sparked protests in dozens of cities and prompted new discussions of police transparency and reform. 
   
   “This is a very difficult period for the Scott family. I know they are glad to have this part behind them so their healing process can continue,” North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey said in a statement. “As a result of this tragedy, important issues have been discussed, not only in North Charleston, but around the country. Citizens have become engaged in this process and government officials are listening.” 
   
   He later added: “This settlement is a step in the right direction for the family, the city, the Lowcountry, and our state.” 
   
   The settlement comes after the City of New York agreed to pay $5.9 million to the family of Eric Garner, whose death after allegedly being put in a chokehold by an NYPD officer was captured on bystander video, and the City of Baltimore agreed to pay $6.4 million to the family of Freddie Gray, whose death in the back of a police transport van prompted murder charges for six officers. 
   
   North Charleston’s decision to pay Scott’s family rather than face a civil suit comes as Michael Slager, the officer who killed Scott, remains imprisoned while he awaits trial on murder charges. 
   
   [‘Look for justice.’ A shooting in South Carolina and the power of video] 
   
   If convicted, Slager faces 30 years to life in prison with no possibility of parole. Reached via email, Slager’s attorney Andy Savage refused to comment on the settlement. 
   
   So far this year, police officers have shot and killed more than 750 people, according to a Washington Post database tracking police shootings all year. There are just five cases this year that have resulted in charges for the officers involved, and in all but one of those cases video evidence was crucial to prosecutors’ decision to bring charges. 
   
   “This is a small victory,” said Anthony Scott, Walter Scott’s brother. “And as long as we win the war, and get a conviction for murder, we will be pleased and feel like we got justice.” 
   
   Related reads: 
   
   Thousands dead, few prosecuted: An investigation into police shootings 
   
   Fatal police shootings in 2015: An attempt to document a previously unknown number 
   
   Distraught People, Deadly Results: Officers often lack the training to approach the mentally unstable, experts say 
   
   Black and Unarmed: Unarmed black men are seven times more likely than whites to die by police gunfire
target: – The family of an unarmed black motorist shot in the back by a South Carolina police officer has been given a settlement that lawyers say is "historic"—and the biggest in recent cases of its kind. North Charleston's city council voted unanimously on Thursday to settle with Walter Scott's family for $6.5 million, the New York Times reports. A city attorney tells the Post and Courier that they're proud they could "settle a case of this magnitude without a brick being thrown, without a fire being set, and without a lawsuit being filed." He says the city took the $6.4 million settlement in the Freddie Gray case and the $5.9 million settlement in the Eric Garner case into account during negotiations. As part of the settlement, Scott's family has agreed not to sue the city or its employees, the Times notes. The city lawyer says that while the payment is large, there was the potential for "a very large verdict" if the case went to court because there's video of the shooting and former officer Michael Slager has been charged with murder. "It's historic," an attorney for the Scott family tells the Washington Post. "It sets a good precedent for a city not tolerating this sort of behavior from police officers." Anthony Scott, Walter Scott's brother, says the settlement ensures that Scott's four children will be taken care of financially, and a portion of it will be donated to the Red Cross to help flood victims in the state, the Post and Courier reports. (Slager is in jail awaiting trial for the April 4 shooting, and he says video of the incident doesn't tell the whole story.)