A grand jury in Ohio voted Wednesday not to indict a white police officer who shot a black man to death insidea Walmart after apparently mistaking a pellet gun he was carrying for a firearm.
The Greene County Special Grand Jury voted not to charge the two Beavercreek, Ohio, police officers who responded to a 911 call reporting that a man in the store was pointing a rifle at other shoppers and fatally shot 22-year-old John Crawford III on Aug. 5. Crawford was later found to have been carrying a pellet gun he picked up in the sporting goods section of the store. Police said they shot the Fairfield resident after he ignored commands to drop the rifle.
Crawford’s family disputes that account. John Crawford Jr., the dead man’s father, told NBC News earlier this week that security footage from the store showed his son talking on a cell phone at the time of the shooting. “He just walked around the store with it, just like any shopper would do,” said the elder Crawford. “There were people passing him by. You could see on the video there was no alarm at all.”
In a statement issued shortly after the grand jury’s decision, the Beavercreek City Attorney’s Office said that while the shooting was “tragic,” the officers responded appropriately to the apparent threat.
“Based on the information the responding officers had and Mr. Crawford’s failure to comply with the responding officers orders, the officers did what they were trained to do to protect the public,” it said
The Greene County Special Grand Jury voted not to charge the two Beavercreek, Ohio, police officers who responded to a 911 call reporting that a man in the store was pointing a rifle at other shoppers and fatally shot 22-year-old John Crawford III on Aug. 5. Crawford was later found to have been carrying a pellet gun he picked up in the sporting goods section of the store. Police said they shot the Fairfield resident after he ignored commands to drop the rifle.
Crawford’s family disputes that account. John Crawford Jr., the dead man’s father, told NBC News earlier this week that security footage from the store showed his son talking on a cell phone at the time of the shooting. “He just walked around the store with it, just like any shopper would do,” said the elder Crawford. “There were people passing him by. You could see on the video there was no alarm at all.”
In a statement issued shortly after the grand jury’s decision, the Beavercreek City Attorney’s Office said that while the shooting was “tragic,” the officers responded appropriately to the apparent threat.
“Based on the information the responding officers had and Mr. Crawford’s failure to comply with the responding officers orders, the officers did what they were trained to do to protect the public,” it said