Fort Worth City Council agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by the family of a man who police fatally shot more than 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, were responding to a burglary call and went to the wrong residence. Both officers were rookies at the time, having been in the police force for less than a year.
Waller, 72, went into his garage to investigate after he and his wife heard suspicious noises around their home. The Wallers were purportedly not aware the police were in their backyard. They thought it was a burglar.
The officers claimed that Waller had a gun and did not obey their orders to drop it. They shot him seven times.
Waller’s wife, Kathy, denied the officer’s version of the shooting, stating at the time that her husband would never point a gun at a policeman.
“It was just a whole nightmare and my husband did not deserve this,” Kathy Waller said, as reported by Fox 4 KDFW at the time the lawsuit was filed.
Hoeppner and Hanlon were later cleared by a Tarrant County grand jury for their actions.
The Waller family sued the City of Fort Worth and Officer Hoeppner for violating Waller’s constitutional rights.
The Waller family will be compensated $825,000 in taxpayer money now that the lawsuit has been settled by the Fort Worth City Council.
