ATLANTA — Five years after a man was shot by Atlanta Police, the city voted to settle the case for nearly $1 million.
At the time of the February 2017 shooting, Noel Hall said an Atlanta police officer was "absolutely unjustified" in shooting him in front of his family. A statement from his attorneys at The Cochran Firm said the Atlanta City Council voted to approve a $990,000 settlement in the case on Monday.
The North Carolina man was in town with his wife, Christina, and grandkids to attend a motocross event at the now-closed Georgia Dome, his attorney said.
Hall was leaving the event when Sgt. Mathieu Cadeau, who was working off-duty as a security guard for the event, approached his vehicle.
The GBI previously said Cadeau was conducting traffic and ordered Hall to go one direction down Northside Drive, but Hall reportedly went in another direction. The GBI said Hall then drove toward the officer, at which point Cadeau opened fire, injuring Hall.
Hall and his family have since disputed that account, saying they never drove toward Cadeau and didn't realize he was an officer.
There were five passengers in the car when Hall was shot, including his wife, two sons, a grandson and another passenger, the GBI said. Hall issued a statement just days after the shooting, saying the experience was a "whirlwind, both physically and emotionally for the family."
"The officer shot at me through the driver's window, the bullet entering and exiting me twice, then through and out the passenger window, just missing my wife’s head, who was seated in the passenger seat by only inches. Also in the van were 2 of our sons, one son's girlfriend and our 2 year old grandson, so it could have very easily went through the passenger area of the van, hitting any of them," a 2017 statement from Hall reads. "At never any point would I have done anything to put them in harms way, just as I would never had intentionally made a move to cause harm or possibly take another’s life."
A Fulton County grand jury indicted Cadeau for aggravated assault in October 2018. Prosecutors said the bullet hit Hall in the back of the arm and traveled through his bicep and into his side. It then exited out of his chest and traveled through the passenger side window, narrowly striking Hall’s wife.
The bullet missed Hall’s heart by only two inches. Hall survived, and none of the other people in the van were hurt.