Baton Rouge Officers Will Not Be Charged In Fatal Shooting Of Alton Sterling: Report

BATON ROUGE, LA — The Department of Justice will not pursue charges against the two officers in the case involving the death of Alton Sterling, whose killing, captured on camera, showed him being gunned down by two white police officers in Baton Rouge last summer, the Washington Post is reporting, citing people familiar with the matter.

Sterling, 37, was shot and killed as police responded "to a disturbance call from a complainant who stated that a black male who was selling music cd’s and wearing a red shirt threatened him with a gun." A video of the encounter shows the two police officers confronting Sterling outside of a convenience store.

Two "pops" are heard, as the officers yell "Get on the ground." Those "pops" are believed to have come from a stun gun. After Sterling doesn't immediately drop, the officers wrestle him to the ground and pin him down.

After a few seconds of a struggle, someone yells, "He's got a gun." At least one of the officers pulls out his gun and holds it to the man's head. After some more shouting, at least two shots are fired. "Oh, s***," the man behind the camera says, pointing it away from the incident.

Sterling died on the scene. As the Post notes, officers had observed the butt of a gun in Sterling's front pants pocket but at issue in the investigation was whether Sterling was reaching for the weapon at the time of the shooting. Sterling's family described him a gentle giant who wouldn't fight police

The shooting came at a time of heightened tension in police-community relations and took place just a day before Philando Castile was gunned down by an officer in Minnesota. That aftermath of the shooting was shared on Facebook Live. In the same week, five police officers in Dallas were shot to death in a sniper-style attack during a rally moving through the city to protest the killing of black men. The suspect, Micah Xavier Johnson, apparently said he was upset by the police killings and wanted to kill white people, especially white police officers. Johnson died after a standoff with police. About 10 days after the shooting in Dallas, three law enforcement officers were killed in Baton Rouge by a man who police say intentionally targeted and assassinated officers.

News that the DOJ will not bring charges comes on the same day that Michael Slager, the former South Carolina officer seen on video fatally shooting a black motorist running from a traffic stop, pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights charge.

Marc Torrence contributed to this report

Patch will update this report.

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