NEW YORK (PIX11) — New York City reached a $3 million settlement with the family of a teen shot and killed by NYPD officers in 2007, officials said Wednesday.
Police fatally shot Khiel Coppin, 18, on Nov. 12, 2007 in Bedford-Stuyvesant after he charged at them with what officers thought was a gun. It turned out to be a hairbrush. Coppin was killed in a 20-bullet barrage of gunfire.
“When officers responded to a mother’s call for help they were confronted by what they believed to be a lethal threat and had to make split-second decisions,” Law Department spokesman Nick Paolucci said. “Officers testified that Mr. Coppin lunged at them with a knife, yelled that he had a gun, and reached for that weapon in the bulge of his sweatshirt, despite repeated orders to raise his hands. While this incident ended tragically, a lower court agreed that the actions of these officers were justified under the circumstances. An appellate court, however, reinstated claims against the officers, saying a jury should weigh the evidence. We have carefully reviewed this tragic case and have determined that this agreement was in the best interest of all parties.”
