Town Agrees To Pay $7 Million To Family Of NK Man Shot By Police

The Town of North Kingstown has agreed to pay $7 million to the family of Mark F. Kilcline, who was paralyzed after being shot by police during a confrontation in 2009. Kilcline died last April. 

Kilcline filed suit in U.S. District Court in 2010, accusing North Kingstown police of excessive force, gross negligence and brutality after he was shot Feb. 8, 2009. 

According to police, Kilcline, then 19, threatened them with an 8-inch kitchen knife at his residence on Tower Hill Road. According to Muriel Miller, with whom Kilcline had been living, Kilcline – a friend of Miller's grandson – had been upset and had agreed to let her take him to Butler Hospital when the police arrived. 

A grand jury later cleared the police of wrongdoing, ruling they were in imminent danger when they opened fire on Kilcline. 

The settlement must be approved by U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith before it is official; he is expected to rule on it Dec. 12. The town's insurer will pick up the $7 million tab.

Town Council President Liz Dolan declined to comment.