Charlotte settles lawsuit over 2017 police shooting
Charlotte settles lawsuit over 2017 police shooting
Settlement document says family will receive $700,000; a trial had been scheduled to start Nov. 12.
A version of this article was originally published Nov. 1 by The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with smart and original local news for Charlotte. We offer free and paid subscription plans. More info here.
Editor’s note: This article was updated on Nov. 8, 2024 with news of the settlement amount.
Read this article in Spanish at La Noticia / Lea este artículo en español en La Noticia
Police said shooting was justified, while lawsuit suggested the man was trying to surrender; family to receive $700,000 settlement
The city of Charlotte has agreed to settle a lawsuit stemming from a highly publicized 2017 police shooting, in which a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officer shot and killed a man outside an apartment complex in the Sugar Creek area.
Court documents obtained by The Ledger show that a $700,000 settlement was reached. A trial had been scheduled to start Nov. 12.
The lawsuit stems from the September 2017 shooting death of Ruben Galindo. Galindo had called police and said he needed help, that he wanted to turn himself in and that he had an unloaded gun. A dispatcher told him in Spanish to leave the gun in the apartment when police arrived.
When officers showed up at the Hunters Pointe apartment complex, off I-85 near Sugar Creek, Galindo, 30, reached into his pocket, pulled out a gun and raised it to his side as officers shouted at him to drop the weapon, according to body cam videos. Officers David Guerra and Courtney Suggs opened fire, killing him.
Galindo’s girlfriend sued officers and the city in 2019. The case wound its way through the courts over the last five years, at one point being dismissed by a federal judge before being reinstated by an appeals court.
Lawyers for Galindo’s girlfriend suggested that police were too quick to shoot and that Galindo was trying to surrender and didn’t understand officers’ English-language commands. Lawyers for the city said the officers perceived a threat and acted reasonably.
The amount of the settlement was not initially disclosed in court documents, but was released to The Ledger on Friday after a records request. The City Council went into a closed session to discuss the case on Oct. 28, the city’s deputy city attorney said in the public portion of the meeting. The council must authorize any settlement of $100,000 or more.
Asked for the settlement documents and a comment, a city spokesman said last week that he would check on the matter but did not provide a comment.
The lawyer for Galindo’s girlfriend, Luke Largess of Charlotte law firm Tin Fulton Walker & Owen, said in an email to The Ledger last week: “We need to get it finalized and I will be happy to comment more in writing or talk. But … five years of litigation, all the way to the Supreme Court, involved a lot of effort to get some compensation for what happened. Shooting someone who was standing in a position of surrender was always troubling.” —Tony Mecia
➡️ Read the background on the case from an appeals court ruling
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks; Business manager: Brie Chrisman