Officers Who Fatally Shot Man in Ohio Walmart Escape Charges

The Department of Justice will review the shooting.

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The grand jury assembled to examine evidence in the shooting of a man killed in an Ohio Walmart by police last month have declared that the officers involved will not be charged. 

John Crawford lll, 22, was shot and killed in a Beavercreek, Ohio Walmart on Aug. 5 after officers responded to a distress call about a man armed with an AR-15. It turns out that the weapon was an air pellet rifle that Crawford picked up from a store shelf. Surveillance footage the public originally did not have access to reportedly shows Crawford walking around the store with the toy, then being aggressively approached by an officer who had his weapon drawn. 

The grand jury, which weighed everything from murder to negligent homicide charges for the officers, decided against the indictment after deciding the officers' actions were justifiable. According to WHIO, the officers' attorney, Vince Pope, said it was "absolutely the right decision." 

WHIO adds that the Department of Justice will conduct an investigation into Crawford's shooting. 

[via Gawker and WHIO]

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