DALLAS CITY COUNCIL

Dallas to Pay $1.6M to Mentally Ill Man Shot by Police

Dallas has agreed to pay $1.6 million to settle a mentally ill man's civil rights lawsuit over his 2013 shooting by a police officer.

The Dallas City Council approved the settlement Tuesday in the case of Bobby Gerald Bennett.

Dallas police were summoned to a domestic dispute in which a woman reported her son had a knife. Police shot Bennett.

Officer Cardan Spencer was indicted after a neighbor's security video showed Bennett standing several feet from the officer before being shot -- not lunging at police.

Bennett was charged with aggravated assault against a public servant. The count was later dropped.

Spencer was fired and awaits trial on a charge of aggravated assault by a public servant. Another officer in the case was suspended for 15 days.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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