Family of Georgia Tech student fatally shot by campus police settles lawsuit for $1 million dollars

By Tina Burnside and Erica Henry, CNN

The family of a Georgia Institute of Technology student fatally shot by campus police in 2017 has settled a lawsuit for $1 million, according to a news release from the family’s attorney.

Scout Schultz, who identified as nonbinary and intersex and used the pronouns “they” and “them,” was fatally shot on September 16, 2017, by campus police after approaching officers with a knife and saying, “shoot me.” At the time, a family attorney said Schultz was suffering from a “mental breakdown.” In a lawsuit filed two years after the shooting, the Schultz family claimed the officer who shot Scout, Tyler Beck, had not received proper crisis intervention training, unlike other officers on the scene.

As part of the settlement agreement, Georgia Tech will pay the Schultz family $1 million dollars, which is one of the highest settlements of its kind in Georgia against a university’s police force in an officer-involved shooting, the release stated. In addition to the financial compensation, Schultz’s parents and attorneys demanded other substantive changes to the policing process at Georgia Tech University.

“Georgia Tech University should be saluted for their efforts to amicably resolve this situation and the changes the university made to protect their student body. We are hopeful that the university’s example of caring effort will be replicated nationwide. Students have let us know the LGBTQIA community is often overlooked and we hope these positive changes continue and that Scout’s life will stand for change,” Chris Stewart, attorney for the family, said in a statement.

CNN has reached out to Georgia Tech for a comment.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.