This story has been updated.
The family of Cameron Redus, who was shot and killed by a university police officer in 2013, has reached a long-awaited settlement agreement with the University of the Incarnate Word, the family’s attorney told the San Antonio Report Tuesday.
The details of the settlement remain confidential.
“The Reduses are pleased with the settlement and that the case is ending,” attorney Brent Perry said.
In a written statement, Perry said they “look forward to honoring the memory of Cameron through the settlement. What happened to Cameron should not happen to other students like him.”
Former UIW police officer Christoper Carter, who shot Cameron Redus five times during a traffic stop, was not involved in the settlement. Perry said he will soon formally file for the wrongful death case, which names Carter as a defendant, to be dismissed.
Cynthia Sanchez Escamilla, UIW’s vice president for legal affairs and general counsel, wrote in a statement Tuesday, “We entered settlement discussions with a sincere desire to reach an outcome that serves the best interests of all concerned and pray this resolution allows the Redus family to find some sense of peace.
“Our community continues to heal from the grief experienced after Cameron’s death, and we hope that members of the UIW community who did not have the opportunity to know him might be inspired by the tree planted in his memory on our Broadway campus, or the Mac Lab dedicated to Cameron in remembrance of his life.”
A phone call to Carter’s attorney, Robert Valadez, was not immediately returned.
The family filed the lawsuit in 2014 against the university and Carter. For years, the university argued its police force was entitled to government immunity from such suits, resulting in multiple appeals. The Texas Supreme Court rejected that argument in 2020 and allowed the case to proceed. The university lost a subsequent court appeal in August and the civil trial was canceled in September in light of the pending settlement.
“The intervening almost nine years since we lost Cameron has been a period of horror, pain and grief for our family and Cameron’s many friends,” Valerie and Mickey Redus said in a statement. “No settlement can ever bring our dear son back to us and we will carry our grief for the rest of our days, but we continue to praise and trust God and depend upon His guidance and rest in His peace.”
Cameron Redus, an honors senior, was the second oldest of their five sons.
“Cameron was a brilliant, talented, peaceful and loving young man who had a profound impact on his school, community and world,” his parents wrote. “He was a wonderful person and a bright light in a dark world. It is an unspeakable tragedy that his light was extinguished far too soon. We will miss him forever.”
On Dec. 6, 2013, Carter pulled over Redus, 23, after the officer claimed he saw the student’s vehicle weaving on Broadway Street. Redus pulled into his apartment complex’s parking lot where a physical struggle ensued. Carter fired six shots at close range, striking Redus five times.
A Bexar County grand jury declined to indict Carter on criminal charges in 2015. He ultimately resigned from the university one year after he was placed on administrative leave.
Before he was hired by UIW in 2011, Carter had held a number of short-term jobs as a police officer and has been allegedly involved in some troubling episodes, San Antonio Report co-founder and columnist Robert Rivard has reported. He has since worked for the City of Poteet’s police force until he retired from that position in 2020.
