LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Police were justified in fatally shooting an armed Black man outside a Kentucky supermarket last year, a prosecutor said.
Jefferson County Commonwealth’s Attorney Tom Wine announced Wednesday that the two officers, who are both white, will not be charged in the shooting last November of Shelby Gazaway, 32, news outlets reported.
Wine said in a July letter to police that the officers were “entitled to use deadly physical force against Mr. Gazaway to defend themselves or others.”
Witnesses told investigators Gazaway fired multiple shots inside the grocery store and in the direction of the officers in the parking lot before he was fatally shot by officers.
Wine said he came to his decision after reviewing body camera footage and surveillance video, witness statements, photos of the scene and reports from officers.
“Both officers stated that they believed their lives as well as those of citizens were in danger because of Mr. Gazaway’s conduct,” Wine said in the letter to police.
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