In abrupt about-face, Finance Committee signs off on $1 million settlement tied to controversial police shooting

A screengrab of a video released by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability that shows the moments before police shot and killed Sharell Brown. (Civilian Office of Police Accountability)

In a surprise about-face, a City Council committee agreed Wednesday to spend $1 million to compensate the family of an armed, 26-year-old man shot and killed by police in 2019.

Five months ago, an avalanche of opposition from the police union’s staunchest City Council allies forced then-Finance Committee Chair Scott Waguespack to yank the settlement to the mother of Sharell Brown off the agenda to avoid almost certain defeat.