AUSTIN, Texas — The City of Austin is paying $2.25 million to the family of a suicidal man who was shot and killed by an Austin police officer in 2017.
Austin City Council voted to pay the settlement to Jason Roque's parents in an almost unanimous vote. KVUE's media partners at the Austin-American Statesman reported that Councilmember Mackenzie Kelly voted against the settlement because she said the officer was cleared of wrongdoing in a separate criminal and internal investigation.
In a statement sent to KVUE, the family's lawyer said in part, “While they appreciate that the City took this case seriously, the family remains devastated over the loss of their son.”
“The police knew Jason was threatening suicide, but an officer shot him dead within two minutes of arriving at the scene, and then kept shooting while Jason was unarmed, defenseless, and limping away from the officers," the family attorney said. "Hopefully, this settlement will encourage the City to reevaluate how police handle calls from people suffering mental health crises, to help prevent similar tragedies in the future."
A City of Austin spokesperson said the city and city council "extends its sympathy to the family of Jason Roque."
"City Council considers several factors in determining whether to resolve litigation arising out of officer-involved shootings, and each case is considered based on the unique set of circumstances involved with each incident," the spokesperson said. "In this case, Council determined that a resolution of this lawsuit is in the best interest of the City and hopes that the resolution of this case will allow the family and the involved City personnel to move forward.”
On May 2, 2017, officers were sent to a neighborhood where a man, Roque, was reportedly waving a gun around after attempting to commit suicide. The Austin Police Department said at the time that they also received a call from a woman who said she had been in a verbal disturbance with her son.
When officers arrived, the APD said Roque refused to comply with their demands and started walking toward his mom. That's when officers shot him in defense of her, Austin's former police chief said.
Roque was taken to a hospital where he died.
The officer, identified as James Harvel, had been with the department for almost 17 years at the time of the shooting.
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