ANAHEIM – Amid much debate about recent officer-involved shootings in this city, Anaheim has revealed that it spent $1.55 million to settle a high-profile shooting that occurred four years ago this week.

Anaheim made the payment to Renee Alexander, the widow of Julian Alexander, and to his daughter, born six weeks after he was shot and killed by an Anaheim police officer, public records show.

The city paid an additional $50,000 to Alexander’s parents – Jerry Alexander and Cheryl Bell – including fees to their attorney Richard P. Herman, records show. The lawsuits were quietly settled in fall 2010. The Orange County Register sought public records because of recent unrest in the city and the anniversary of the shooting.

The settlements came despite District Attorney Tony Rackauckas’ finding no criminal wrongdoing in the shooting. Neither settlement admits any wrongdoing by the city or the Police Department.

In the early morning of Oct. 28, 2008, Alexander was shot outside his Anaheim home when he apparently went outside to see who or what was causing a loud noise.

An Anaheim police officer was chasing three burglary suspects – unrelated to Alexander – through the yard. When Alexander, 20, came outside with a long stick, the officer shined a flashlight at him from a distance and ordered him to drop the stick.

While it’s unclear whether Alexander knew it was a police officer, he yelled at the officer – later identified as 10-year veteran Kevin Flanagan – and refused to put down the stick (or what fellow officers described as a “thick club”), authorities said. The officer shot Alexander, killing him.

The District Attorney’s Office investigated and determined five months later the officer should not face charges.

Alexander’s family members continued with a lawsuit, asking for unspecified damages. The suit also sought that a statue of Alexander be placed on Disneyland’s Main Street, U.S.A., as a memorial – a request that never materialized.

Alexander had married his wife just weeks earlier.

Herman, the parents’ lawyer, declined comment for this story. Alexander family members could not be reached for comment.

The settlement for Alexander highlights cities’ vulnerability to lawsuits even when officers are cleared of criminal wrongdoing.

There have been at least seven officer-involved shootings in Anaheim this year, creating tension between police and some neighborhoods – particularly heavily Latino communities.

This summer, Genevieve Huizar filed a $50 million wrongful-death lawsuit against Anaheim after her son, Manuel Angel Diaz, 25, was shot and killed by an Anaheim officer.

His death and a subsequent melee with residents along Anna Drive, where the July 21 shooting occurred, touched off weeks of unrest. Police say that Diaz was a known gang member and was fleeing police and, they have said, reaching for his waistband. Some witnesses tell a different story, saying that Diaz was unarmed and his shooting was unwarranted.

The district attorney is investigating; a federal review of that investigation will follow. City officials have not commented on Huizar’s lawsuit.

Contact the writer: 714-704-3769 or ecarpenter@ocregister.com