Spokane agrees to $3.7 million settlement with children of Robert Bradley, who police shot and killed in 2022
The city of Spokane and its insurers will pay $3.7 million to the estate of Robert Bradley, who was shot and killed by police in 2022, ending a wrongful death lawsuit against the city while admitting no wrongdoing.
The Spokane City Council on Monday approved the second-largest settlement for a police shooting lawsuit in the city’s history, when combined with the $500,000 paid to Bradley’s fiancée in December. The city’s legal fees to fight the Bradley wrongful death claims reached up to $600,000 in May.
The settlement was approved 4-2; Councilman Jonathan Bingle and Michael Cathcart voted in opposition.
The city of Spokane will reportedly have to pay $1.5 million of the settlement, while the remaining $2.2 million will be covered by its insurer. The settlement was negotiated by the insurer.
Anwar Peace, a member of the city’s Human Rights Commission, argued the settlement should be a wakeup call for the city.
“Is the city willing to pay another $4 million because the same flawed training led to us settling these trainings?” Peace asked. “We are going to have to have some accountability take place.”
Officers shot Bradley at his home in September 2022 when they say he pulled a handgun on them as they were trying to serve a court order related to a dispute with a neighbor.
Bradley’s family sued the officers and the city of Spokane in 2023, alleging the 41-year-old was unloading guns and camping gear from his van after a camping trip when police ambushed and shot him within seconds of approaching the van parked at the family’s home in Hillyard. Bradley was hard of hearing, and the plaintiffs argue that he was not given time or sufficient warning to process that police were on the scene before officers opened fire.
Former Spokane County Prosecutor Larry Haskell ruled in March 2024 that police Cpl. Chris Johnson and Detective Trevor Walker fired in self-defense, and he declined to file charges against them. Haskell, who recently resigned from his position, never filed charges against an officer for a police shooting during his time as the county’s top prosecutor.
Bradley’s children were represented by attorney Rondi Thorp, who also represented the estate of David Novak in the city’s largest police shooting settlement. The city spent $4.8 million between settlements with Novak’s family and $600,000 in legal fees.
Thorp has also been retained by the families of two other men shot and killed by Spokane police in recent years: Kerry Jones-Hilburg, a 34-year-old who was killed after allegedly shoplifting in a Spokane Walmart in December 2023, and Joshua Musselman, a 29-year-old who was killed outside his home in December 2024.
Peace noted that Johnson was involved in both the Novak and Bradley cases and another shooting this year. Jim Leighty, a member of the Washington Coalition for Police Accountability, argued to the City Council Monday that Johnson posed a threat to the community.