Beavercreek, Ohio – Attorney General Mike DeWine will allow a special independent counsel to consider charges against the police officers involved in the shooting death of 22-year-old John Crawford III this past August 5.
The young man was shopping at the local Wal-Mart when a shopper informed police that they witnessed a black man carrying an AR-15 semi-auto rifle. Officers arrived to find Crawford carrying a rifle and ordered him to drop it at which time his behavior menaced them. This led to the officers firing upon him. He died moments after being shot with his family listening to his screams on the cell phone.
However, the surveillance camera from Wal-Mart shows the account differs from what police reported. Crawford was shopping and minding his own business when officers approached him from behind. It is reported that he likely wasn’t aware that anything was amiss. He did have a weapon in his possession.
It was a MK-177 BB/pellet rifle that was still in the packaging. He was leaning against it at the time he was fired upon. He had just picked up the rifle at the toy section after checking out video games. He even told officers the gun wasn’t real, but by that time they were firing upon him.
Attorney General DeWine allowed the family to view the tape, but decided against releasing it to the public to avoid tainting potential jurors. That said, some details of the incident have been made public which clearly favored the police officers.