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Philly to pay $490,000 to family of man killed by rogue cop

The city is paying $490,000 to the family of a man murdered by a rogue Philadelphia police officer who opened fire after his girlfriend's cellphone got wet during a neighborhood squirt gun fight, officials announced Wednesday.

File photo: Shanae Williams demonstrates the way she says her estranged husband held a gun as he shot her brother, while children and adults were having a water fight in the 1800 block of Hoffman Street. (05/04/2010; Alejandro A. Alvarez/Staff)
File photo: Shanae Williams demonstrates the way she says her estranged husband held a gun as he shot her brother, while children and adults were having a water fight in the 1800 block of Hoffman Street. (05/04/2010; Alejandro A. Alvarez/Staff)Read more

The city is paying $490,000 to the family of a man murdered by a rogue Philadelphia police officer who opened fire after his girlfriend's cellphone got wet during a neighborhood squirt gun fight, officials announced Wednesday.

Mark McDonald, a spokesman for Mayor Nutter, said the city also is paying $85,000 to a woman who was wounded when former Officer Rudolph Valentino Gary Jr. - who is serving a 25- to 60-year prison sentence for third-degree murder and aggravated assault - started shooting.

The attack happened May 2, 2010, after Gary and his girlfriend went to the 1800 block of Hoffman Street, in the Girard Park section of South Philadelphia, to pick up his son from his ex-wife's house.

When Gary and his girlfriend arrived in his Ford Expedition, adults and children on the block were squirting each other with Super Soakers. Some water was sprayed through the window of the SUV and splashed his girlfriend's cellphone, and she jumped out and began fighting with a neighborhood woman.

Gary, now 31, stepped out of the Ford, pointed his police-issued 9mm Glock at the neighbors, and then fired a shot into the air.

A witness testified that Howard Williams, 21, tried to calm the dispute, but Gary immediately shot him in the chest.

The off-duty officer then stood over Williams and shot him two more times, hitting him in the neck and chest.

Gary, who had been on the force 11 months, was charged with first-degree murder shortly afterward. In 2012, he pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and aggravated assault.

The $490,000 settlement will go to Williams' mother, Diane, McDonald said. The $85,000 is for Indria Johnson, a neighbor who was wounded in a leg by one of Gary's bullets, McDonald said.

Before the killing, Gary had been in a series of disputes with his ex-wife and Williams.

On at least one occasion before the shooting, Williams had complained to the Police Department that Gary had pulled a gun on him. But the department took no action against Gary, court records show.

The city agreed in March to pay Johnson and Williams' mother, but the money was not released immediately because of the size of the payments.

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Inquirer staff writer Dylan Purcell contributed to this article.