Grand jurors clear cops in fatal shooting of man carrying air rifle at Wal-Mart
A special grand jury in Ohio has declined to indict two police officers in the fatal shooting of a man holding a pellet gun and talking on his cellphone at a Wal-Mart store.
Grand jurors in Xenia, Ohio, were asked to consider charges or murder, reckless homicide or negligent homicide, but they did not indict the officers on any of the charges, prosecutors announced on Wednesday. The Cincinnati Enquirer, the Dayton Daily News, WCPO, WDTN and Raw Story have coverage.
Special Prosecutor Mark Piepmeier said at a news conference that the Aug. 5 shooting death of 22-year-old John Crawford III was the result of a “perfect storm of circumstances.” During the press conference, he showed the surveillance video.
The pellet gun was not in a box when Crawford removed it from the shelf and began walking around the store, Piepmeier said. Crawford was probably distracted as he talked on his cellphone, the prosecutor said. The gun looked like an automatic weapon, spurring a 911 call to police, who had recently been trained to be aggressive in responding to active shooters.
Police have said the Beavercreek officers ordered Crawford to drop the gun, and one of the officers fired when Crawford did not respond.
“This case is a tragedy for the family,” Piepmeier said, “and for the police officers who were justified to take a life.”
Crawford’s family has called for an investigation into whether race was a factor in the shooting death. Crawford was black and the officers were white. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine says he will turn the case files over to the U.S. Justice Department for review.
