JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The family of an 80-year-old man shot and killed by an undercover Jacksonville police officer three years ago has agreed to accept $200,000 to settle a lawsuit.

Isaac Singletary, 80, died in January 2007 when he came out of his house with a gun, apparently mistaking the officers on his property for drug dealers.

Singletary's family and the state attorney's office said that Singletary thought the undercover officers were real drug dealers and tried to chase them off his property on Westmont Street, just off Philips Highway.

The two officers who fired at Singletary said they had no choice but to shoot him when he refused commands to drop his gun.

Since the shooting, police and family members continued to have conflicting stories about who pulled the trigger first. Police said Singletary pulled a gun from his waistband and pointed it at one detective.

Isaac Singletary
Isaac Singletary
Singletary was ordered to drop his weapon, but police said he refused, and that's when he was shot the first time.

According to court documents, police said Singletary then fired at one detective and retreated behind his home. After being ordered again to drop his gun, police said Singletary pointed his gun again at other officers and was shot again, this time by the other detective, according to court documents.

A witness, however, painted a much different picture about what happened, saying Singletary never pulled out his gun until after he was shot by police. But prosecutors didn't take the witness' account seriously because it came from a multi-convicted felon.

Harry Shorstein, state attorney at the time, criticized the officers' actions, but found no criminal wrongdoing. A review board later decided the officers did follow department guidelines.

Singletary's family members filed a lawsuit in federal court, which was scheduled to go to trial next April.

"An elderly, 80-year-old man on his own property should not have been killed by the Jacksonville Sheriff Office or anybody else," Singletary's nephew, Gary Evans, said at the time.

The city of Jacksonville reached the $200,000 settlement with the Singletary family last week. The settlement, which will be paid in full by the city, covers all parties, including the two officers, James Narcisse and Darrin Green. Narcisse was fired by JSO last year for his role in a scam involving Crime Stoppers.

"Both sides thought settling the case was preferable to further litigation," a General Counsel's Office spokesman said.