Walter Scott's family reaches multi-million settlement with North Charleston after shooting by police officer

The city of North Charleston, S.C., has reached a settlement with the family of Walter Scott, an unarmed black man who was shot and killed by a white police officer just more than six months ago.

The city council agreed to pay $6.5 million to Scott’s family by a 10-0 vote Thursday, The Associated Press reports. The Charleston-based Post and Courier reports that the Scott family will donate some of the settlement to the Red Cross in order to help victims of the state’s recent floods.

“It was a bittersweet victory,” Scott’s brother, Anthony, told the AP. “While nothing can replace having Walter in our lives, the City of North Charleston’s historic action ensures that he did not die in vain.”

Walter Scott was shot and killed by North Charleston police officer Michael Slager on Apr. 4 while fleeing from a traffic stop. Scott was unarmed at the time of his death, which was captured on video by a witness to the shooting.

Scott’s death occurred about eight months after two other unarmed black men—Michael Brown of Ferguson, Mo., and Eric Garner of Staten Island, N.Y.—were killed by white police officers. Neither of those officers—Darren Wilson and Daniel Pantaleo—were indicted in their respective grand jury trials.

Slager was fired, arrested, and charged with murder after video of Scott’s killing surfaced online. He now faces 30 years to life in prison.

Watch Jay Smooth’s thoughts on the shooting death of Walter Scott, titled “Why do they never try to save them?”