Edith Copeland of Marble City brought the wrongful death suit against the city, claiming Sallisaw police wrongly killed her grandson, Edward Eugene Copeland Jr., 33, of Marble City, on Sept. 13, 2001.
A trial in the case began Monday in U.S. District Court in Muskogee, but after a day and a half, both parties reached an agreement and the case was dismissed, Chris Blankenship, Copeland's Stigler attorney, said. Only one eyewitness was called to testify during the trial.
Blankenship said a confidentiality clause in the agreement between the two parties prevented him from discussing the terms of the agreement, or whether or not Edith Copeland was satisfied with the outcome of the case.
"It would be unethical for me to comment," Blankenship said.
Blankenship would only say that Edith Copeland raised her grandson as if she was his mother, and she was also the personal representative of his estate.
Oklahoma City attorney Kent McGuire, who represented the city, did not return phone calls from Your TIMES.
After t he shooting, Sallisaw police said Officers Jonathan Teague and Jeff Murray were trying to arrest Edward Copeland Jr. following a pursuit when Copeland pulled a gun on them. As a result, Copeland was shot five times.
The Sequoyah County District Attorney's office later found that the officers were justified in the shooting.
Sallisaw Police Chief Gary Philpot said Wednesday that he is happy the case was dismissed.
"They (the officers) responded just the way they should have," Philpot said. "They did what they had to do to save their own lives."
Edith Copeland's suit claimed that her grandson was unarmed at the time of the shooting.
Teague, Murray, and the city of Sallisaw were named as defendants in the suit. Murray is now a detective with the Sallisaw Police Department. Teague left the department in 2002.
