Federal authorities announced earlier this week that Beavercreek, Ohio police Officer Sean Williams will not face any charges after murdering 22-year-old black man John Crawford III inside a Walmart on Aug. 5, 2014.
According to reports, a special grand jury declined to indict anyone after they found insufficient evidence to pursue charges against the officer after analyzing store surveillance video.
“The government would be required both to disprove his (Williams’) stated reason for the shooting — that he was in fear of death or serious bodily injury — and to affirmatively establish that Officer Williams instead acted with the specific intent to violate Mr. Crawford’s rights,” U.S. Attorney Benjamin Glassman and the Department of Justice said in a statement, adding that the evidence “simply cannot satisfy those burdens.”
Crawford was slain by police after hi picked up an un-packaged BB/pellet air rifle inside the store’s sporting goods section and continued shopping in the store. Another customer called 911 and said that Crawford was pointing the gun at other people in the store.
Two officers from the Dayton suburb Beavercreek Police arrived after being informed of a subject with a gun. When they arrived on the scene, officers say that Crawford did not respond to verbal commands to drop weapon but moved as if trying to escape. They then fired two shots into Crawford’s torso and arm. He was later pronounced dead at Dayton’s Miami Valley Hospital.
