City: Man shot by police to receive $700K settlement

Springfield has agreed to pay $700,000 to a panhandler with mental illness who was shot by a Springfield police officer in May, the city announced Thursday.

Eric David Butts was shot by then-officer Jason Shuck on May 9 near a Walmart Neighborhood Market.

"The City agreed to a settlement amount of $700,000 based on the potential cost of defense and medical expenses," the city statement said. "As part of the agreement, the City and Shuck are released from liability, ensuring that the settlement truly brings the claim to a close, with no potential for further claims or litigation."

Joshua Roberts, the attorney for Butts, has said that his medical bills top $216,000.

"It is a fair and reasonable settlement," Roberts said. He declined to say how much the legal expenses and attorney fees will take out of the settlement.

The payment will be made from the city's general fund reserves because Butts was shot before police were covered by liability insurance, according to the city.

Shuck, 35, resigned from the Springfield police force Aug. 14 and was sentenced Wednesday to two years unsupervised probation in the misdemeanor assault case.

Shuck told authorities that he meant to use his Taser when he shot Eric Butts on May 9 near the Walmart Neighborhood Market at 1320 S. Glenstone Ave., as Butts, 27, was running away.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, he can never work again in a job that requires him to carry a firearm and must surrender his peace officer license. He could have been sentenced to up to a year in jail and fined up to $1,000.

Critics have called the charge and the plea agreement a slap on the wrist and have publicly protested. But a review by the News-Leader of six previous Taser-gun mishaps by law enforcement officers in the United States found that criminal charges were filed in only one of the cases, a fatal shooting in Oakland, California, in 2009.

Butts, a convicted burglar who had served time in prison, was panhandling at the store. He was wanted on a warrant for failure to appear in court on a parole violation at the time of the shooting. Court records indicate Butts has been diagnosed with mental illnesses including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.