A California district attorney will not file charges against a police officer he says ‘accidentally’ shot a man crawling away from a fatal collision.
DUI suspect Andrew Nicholas Thomas, 26, and his wife Darien Ehorn, 23, were involved in a car accident after leaving the Canteena Bar in Paradise, California on Nov. 26. Ehorn was ejected and died.
A report indicates that witnesses told officials the couple had sped out of the parking lot and ‘nearly ran over some people.’ The SUV’s headlights were allegedly not turned on when it went through a red light, hit a median and overturned.
Thomas survived the collision and was climbing out of the wreckage when Officer Patrick Feaster arrived. The cruiser’s dashcam was rolling.
Within moments, Feaster had his gun pointed toward Thomas. Police footage showed the firearm discharge and Thomas fall back into the vehicle. He was shot in the neck and sustained damage to the C7 and T1 vertebrae, according to the D.A.’s report.
An investigation determined that only one shot was fired. What appeared to be a possible second shot in the video was determined to be a beam of light.
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Feaster did not report the possibility his weapon fired until fellow officers pulled Thomas from the car with a gun shot wound. Eleven minutes went by before he made any mention of it, CBS reports.
The Butte County Officer Involved Shooting/Critical Incident Protocol Team underwent an ‘extensive’ investigation that led to District Attorney Mike Ramsey announcing Thursday that no charges would be filed against the officer.
“The evidence in this case tends strongly towards showing the shooting to be unintentional and possibly negligent, but not criminally so,” Ramsey’s final report stated.
Reaction to Ramsey’s announcement was overwhelmingly negative and prompted the D.A. to followup with a ‘lay’ report to explain how his office came to its final decision.
Ramsey used the followup report to emphasize that he was not passing judgment on whether or not the officer should have drawn his weapon in the first place.
CBS reports that Thomas has been charged with vehicular homicide.
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