Laurence Hammack

A $1 million settlement has been reached in an excessive force lawsuit that accused a Roanoke County police officer of fatally shooting a mentally troubled man during a standoff at his home.

The officer, Matthew Jennings, and the county’s insurance carrier agreed to pay $999,999 to the widow of Shawn Smith, according to her attorney, Terry Grimes of Roanoke.

“This killing should never have happened,” Grimes said in a statement Wednesday. “This is only the first step in the pursuit of justice. We want to change the way police handle mental health issues.”

Jennings shot Smith, a former U.S. Marine and combat veteran, as he stood in a screened-in porch of his home in the North Lakes neighborhood the night of Nov. 26, 2021. Police were called to the home for a report of a

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