CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The city of Charlotte is settling a lawsuit for a deadly police shooting in 2017.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officer David Guerra shot and killed Ruben Galindo Chavez after Chavez called 911 saying he had a gun and wanted to turn himself in. When police arrived, they asked Chavez to drop the weapon. When he refused to follow the command, Guerra shot him several times.
Chavez requested Spanish-speaking officers during his 911 call, but the responding officers weren't fluent. Former CMPD Chief Kerr Putney blamed the deadly shooting on a "communication barrier." Galindo's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city and both officers, Guerra and Courtney Suggs, in 2019. The lawsuit claimed the officers were negligent in their approach without waiting for a Spanish translator.
In the wake of the shooting, a WCNC Charlotte investigation found there was only one bilingual officer for every 1,700 Hispanic people in Mecklenburg County. CMPD said at the time it had 75 bilingual officers out of 1,800 -- roughly four percent of its force. But Hispanics made up 13% of the population, according to Census estimates.
Both officers were cleared of criminal wrongdoing, with the district attorney's office determining Galindo was mentally unstable and impaired. However, the wrongful death suit went on. While U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Conrad sided with the city, the case was appealed and heard in December 2022. It was one of two cases involving deadly CMPD officer-involved shootings heard by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Two of the three judges empaneled in the appeals court chose to partially vacate Conrad's ruling. While they still upheld the city of Charlotte wasn't negligent with the officers' training, they vacated Conrad's other findings that favored the city. Chief among the vacated findings was that Guerra was granted qualified immunity in response to a claim that Galindo's Fourth Amendment rights were violated. The judges also reversed summary judgment awards favoring Guerra on claims of assault and battery, wrongful death caused by negligence, and negligent infliction of emotional distress.