Phoenix Police Officer Won't Be Charged in Killing Unarmed Black Men Carrying Bottle of Pills
The white Arizona police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black man in December after he mistook the victim's painkillers for a handgun will not face any criminal charges.
Phoenix County prosecutors announced on Wednesday that Officer Mark Rine, 30, was justified in using deadly force against 34-year-old Rumain Brisbon, said Jerry Cobb, a Maricopa County attorney spokesman.
According to Cobb, the shooting was within Arizona law governing such conduct, although he was unaware of the specific findings of the incident review.
Marci Kratter, the attorney representing Brisbon's family, said she was not surprised that Rine will not be held accountable.
"There was no investigation. They were certainly not interested in finding out what the truth was," said Kratter, according to Reuters.
Cobb, on the other hand, told the New York Daily News that the county attorney's office launched an investigation that examined a review of the police and medical examiner reports in addition to an independent probe by prosecutors, among other things.
Police say the seven-year veteran cop fired two shots at Brisbon on Dec. 2, 2014 after the two men had an altercation while the officer was investigating a drug deal. However, witnesses, including a friend of Brisbon, say that the father was on his way to deliver fast food to his children.
According to police, Brisbon was approached by cops who told him several times to put his hands up, but Brisbon fled. During a scuffle, the seven-year veteran cop said Brisbon reached for a pill bottle in his waistband, which the officer thought was a firearm.
"The officer gave the suspect several commands to get on the ground but he refused to comply, yelling profanities at the officer," the Police Department said in a statement. "Fearing Brisbon had a gun in his pocket the officer fired two rounds striking Brisbon in the torso."
Police later discovered that Brisbon was carrying a vial of oxycodone pills, and that a semi-automatic handgun and marijuana were in his SUV.
However, one witness told The Arizona Republic that after the shooting, he saw the officer "screaming, 'F--k, f--k,' like upset that he shot the guy."
Another witness said he did not see the officers trying to speak with Brisbon before the altercation.
Aiyana Raines, 9, said that she cried when she heard the news her father had been killed.
"He is going to miss our birthdays and how my little sisters grow up, and how we grow up because she is the only one and I am only nine, and my sister is only 10, and my dad is not going to be here for our happy moments and our sad moments," she lamented to Fox 10.
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