Attorney: Minneapolis and family of Jamar Clark reach $200,000 tentative settlement

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The City of Minneapolis and the family of Jamar Clark, who was fatally shot by Minneapolis police in 2015, have reached a tentative settlement, according to the lawyer representing the Clark family.

Attorney David Suro confirmed to FOX 9 the two parties agreed on a $200,000 tentative settlement. The deal still needs to be approved by the Minneapolis City Council in order to be finalized.

"It’s up to [the council] to decide whether they want to accept it or not," said Suro. "They can decide it’s too low and reject it or decide it’s too much and reject that. It’s just how cities work."

FOX 9 has reached out city officials regarding the tentative settlement, but has yet to hear back.

In May, the Minneapolis City Council rejected a proposed settlement with the Clark family.

Clark was 24 years old when he was shot to death outside a party at an apartment on Plymouth Avenue North in November 2015. Official investigations found Clark struggled with Minneapolis Police Officers Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze and might have had a hand on Ringgenberg’s gun when Schwarze fired.

The officers involved in the shooting were not criminally charged, but Clark's family filed a lawsuit accusing the officers of unreasonable use of excessive force. Schwarze was later dropped from the lawsuit.

Earlier this year, the City of Minneapolis agreed to a $20 million lawsuit of Justin Ruszczyk Damond, who died in a police shooting in 2017.