The Atlanta City Council in Georgia unanimously made a decision on Monday to reach a settlement with a former Atlanta police officer who was found not guilty in a fatal shooting incident that occurred in 2019.
The city council has agreed to settle with Oliver Simmonds for $1.4 million, according to Fox 5 Atlanta.
Back in 2022, Simmonds faced charges of felony murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and two counts of breaching his oath as a public officer following the deadly shooting on July 15, 2019, at a gas station in the Castleberry Hill area.
A jury found Oliver Simmonds not guilty following his trial in September 2023. (Getty Images)
During the incident, Simmonds was refueling his vehicle at a Shell gas station close to the crossroads of McDaniel and Whitehall streets when an encounter took place between him and 18-year-old D’Ettrick Griffin.
According to police, Griffin hopped into the driver’s seat of Simmonds’ unmarked police SUV and attempted to drive away. Simmonds then fired his gun at Griffin, striking the teenager, who drove off in the vehicle before crashing shortly after.
Oliver Simmonds was off-duty and wearing plain clothes at the time of the shooting. (Atlanta Police Department/ Facebook)
Griffin died from the injuries he suffered in the incident.
