Fort Worth reaches agreement in legal dispute over fatal police shooting

The Fort Worth City Council has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by the family of a man shot and killed by police over a decade ago.

The city of Fort Worth will pay more than $800,000 in taxpayer money to the family of Jerry Waller, who was killed by police in the garage of his home in 2013.

Two officers, identified as Richard Hoeppner and Benjamin Hanlon, had stumbled upon a burglar alarm and found themselves at the wrong apartment. Both officers were rookie officers at the time, having been on the force for less than a year.

Waller, 72, went to his garage to investigate after he and his wife heard suspicious noises around their home. The Wallers were reportedly unaware that police were in their backyard. They thought it was a burglar.

Officers claimed Waller had a gun on him and refused to comply with orders to drop it. They shot him seven times.

Waller's wife, Kathy, disputed the officer's account of the shooting, saying at the time that her husband would never point a gun at a police officer.

“It was just a nightmare and my husband didn't deserve this,” Kathy Waller said, as Fox 4 KDFW reported at the time the lawsuit was filed.

Hoeppner and Hanlon were later acquitted of their crimes by a Tarrant County grand jury.

The Waller family sued the City of Fort Worth and Officer Hoeppner for violating Waller's constitutional rights.

After the Fort Worth City Council settled the lawsuit, the Waller family will receive $825,000 in taxpayer money.