REPORT:
A customer in a Wal-mart in an "open carry" state called to report a 22-year-old male walking through the store with a gun. The customer initially declared that the individual was pointing the gun at other customers. The 22-year-old male was on the phone while shopping, having picked up and inspected a BB/pellet rifle for purchase from a shelve. After placing it in his cart, he moved to a different area of the store. An officer arrived on the scene and was reportedly prompted verbally with instructions but was unresponsive. His movements reportedly appeared to be made "as if trying to escape" which resulted in the attending officer shooting the 22-year-old male two times. One bullet went into the male's chest and one bullet went into the male's arm.Security footage was reviewed that indicated that the customer calling to report a male pointing a gun at other customers disproved his claims and he stated he was unsure if the 22-year-old male's movements were intentional or malicious. A second death occurred at the site of this event, which was caused by a heart attack of another customer trying to flee the scene due to the firing of the officer's gun.
INVESTIGATION:
The security camera footage disproved concerns of the original 9-1-1 phone call made by a customer at the Wal-Mart where the shooting took place. This footage also did not feature verbal warnings from the officers when they arrived, either. It confirmed that the 22-year-old male was on the phone at the time of the officer's arrival and that he did have the BB/pellet rifle in his hands but not in such a way that he was waving it around or aiming it at other customers. Investigations included an interrogation of the 22-year-old male's girlfriend before she was made aware that he had died in the shooting, during which time the police questioned if the male had brought a gun with him int the store, though no gun was on his person at the time of death. The Department of Justice conducted an independent investigation of the events that transpired as well.
RESULTS:
A grand jury did not indict any of the officers present at the events of the shooting. The Department of Justice removed the officer that shot the 22-year-old male from active duty during investigations, but they did not pursue criminal charges. No other internal investigations or consequences occurred in relation to these events.DISCLAIMER: The events described are actually the events that occurred resulting in the death of John Crawford III. He was killed by Sean Williams who did not face any consequences for taking the life of an innocent adult male.
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