A settlement has been reached in the wrongful death lawsuit following the fatal police shooting in Charlotte-Mecklenburg

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) – The family of a man shot by police in Charlotte-Mecklenburg has reached a settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Charlotte and the officer who fired the fatal shot.

Ruben Galindo Chavez was killed on September 6, 2017. Chavez had called 911 and, while speaking Spanish, said he wanted to turn himself in at an upcoming court date and that he had a gun but no bullets.

Dispatchers can be heard telling him to put the gun down, but he refused, claiming he had no bullets.

[Family of man killed by CMPD officers sues city for wrongful death]

According to his family, he also wanted to hand the weapon over to the police.

When police arrived, they found him outside. He raised his hands in the air, the gun still in his left hand. Police said she repeated commands in English to drop the weapon; However, Chávez did not speak English.

Police said they perceived an “imminent deadly threat” when he failed to drop the weapon. He was then shot dead by the police.

[Court: Charlotte man killed by police was in ‘position of surrender’]

Two years later, his family filed a lawsuit alleging wrongful death at the hands of officer David Guerra.

In 2021, the district court declared that Guerra was entitled to qualified immunity under the Fourth Amendment and granted the officer and the city summary judgment on charges of assault, wrongful death and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

But two years later, in 2023, an appeals court reinstated the lawsuit, saying Guerra was not protected by qualified immunity.

The legal battle ended on Halloween 2024. According to documents filed in court, Chavez's family settled for $700,000.

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