[Hanze]

Long and sort surveillance cam footage as well as an edited one I found.

A special grand jury has cleared police officers in the fatal shooting of a 22-year-old Fairfield man at a Beavercreek Wal-Mart, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced that he is turning the investigative files over to the U.S. Department of Justice for a civil rights review. The federal government has been monitoring the case and agreed to a review.

"The Civil Rights Division, the United States Attorney's Office, and the FBI will conduct a thorough and independent review of the evidence and take appropriate action if the evidence indicates a prosecutable violation of federal criminal civil rights statutes," said Jennifer Thornton, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Special Prosecutor Mark Piepmeier said the Greene County grand jury in Xenia found the police were justified when they shot John Crawford III as he walked around the store holding a pellet gun and talking on his cellphone on Aug. 5.

A 911 caller reported Crawford was waving what appeared to be a rifle in the store.

Police said he didn't obey commands to put down what turned out to be an air rifle he apparently had taken off a shelf.

"That was really the question for this jury," Piepmeier said at a press conference in Xenia. "Was the officer reasonable to think himself or someone else would receive physical harm?"

"The law says police officers are judged by what is in their mind at the time," he said. "You have to put yourself in their shoes at that time with the information they had."

Piepmeier said grand jurors were asked to consider charges or murder, reckless homicide or negligent homicide.

He called the shooting a "perfect storm of circumstances." If one of them had failed to occur, Crawford would be alive, he said.

First, the pellet gun was out of the box and on a shelf. Crawford picked it up and aimlessly walked around the store. The gun resembled an automatic weapon. A 911 caller who was familiar with guns called dispatch.

"He's trying to be a good citizen reporting the best he can what he is seeing," Piepmeier said.

Officers who had been trained in responding to active shooters only two weeks earlier showed up. They were trained at the state police officer's academy to be aggressive, Piepmeier said.

Crawford, who was on his cellphone, was distracted by the call and probably not even paying attention to what he was doing.

"No officer wants to be in a situation where they are putting their lives on the line and they possibly have to take the life of someone else," Piepmeier said.

Crawford's family says the shooting was not justified and asked federal authorities to investigate and determine whether race was a factor. Crawford was black. The officers are white.

In a prepared statement, the family said they were disappointed, disgusted and confused by the grand jury's decision.

"(Attorney General) DeWine and Mr. Piepmeier made excuses for the officer's actions and have erroneously argued the officer's actions were "reasonable," the Crawfords said.

"The Wal-Mart surveillance video and eyewitnesses prove that the killing of John H. Crawford III was not justified and was not reasonable. It is undisputed that John Crawford III was in Wal-Mart as a customer and was not posing a threat to anyone in the store, especially the police officers."

They noted that Crawford had his back to officers when he was shot. They asked for prayers and support from the public and said they are praying for the family of Angela Williams, a shopper who died from a heart attack caused by the chaos in the store.

DeWine said that all investigative files will be shared with the U.S. Department of Justice.

Ohio Governor John Kasich said he thought a review by the justice department was appropriate.

Kasich released this statement:

"After talking with the Attorney General and watching the video myself, I agree with his decision that a review by the U.S. Department of Justice is appropriate. This is a tragedy for the Crawford family and I share the concern of many in the community that this matter must be handled with the utmost seriousness and respect. I've consulted with local leaders, including leaders in the African American community, and I applaud the example they have set of calm, restraint and patience."

Surveillance video of the shooting will be released to the public, Piepmeier said.

A grand jury in Missouri is going through the same motions to decide whether Ferguson police should be charged in the shooting of teenager Michael Brown.

Officers rarely face criminal charges for use of force. Enquirer research found that only one local officer has been charged in a shooting since 2001. He was acquitted.

[scaryshit]

surely Walmart is to blame here box the fucking bb guns and tie down any display pieces,still though he should never have walked around the store with it like that being black and living in America we've seen our fair share of videos with young black men and cops on this site in the past

[vagabond]

[Pyramid_Head]

Oh boy, time to riot!!!

[docfr8]

[joak]

wait, what the fuck happened?

[kellyhound]

Originally Posted by scaryshit ↗

surely Walmart is to blame here box the fucking bb guns and tie down any display pieces,still though he should never have walked around the store with it like that being black and living in America we've seen our fair share of videos with young black men and cops on this site in the past

indeed. two major fuck ups here

[danielsan]

OK. So this might sound like me being a Britisher, but here in England WalMart is called Asda. Asda is a 'family' supermarket, one of the biggest in the UK before a part take over from WalMart. I can't believe that in the US you can buy 'guns' from a supermarket!! That's fucking crazy!!! I am no gun expert and use the word in the 'bang' kind of way, but is it that easy to purchase one in the US??

[K9Grip]

Originally Posted by danielsan1971 ↗

OK. So this might sound like me being a Britisher, but here in England WalMart is called Asda. Asda is a 'family' supermarket, one of the biggest in the UK before a part take over from WalMart. I can't believe that in the US you can buy 'guns' from a supermarket!! That's fucking crazy!!! I am no gun expert and use the word in the 'bang' kind of way, but is it that easy to purchase one in the US??

It's not that easy. You also can't just buy any gun you want by walking up to the counter, pointing at what you want, and paying. Walmart, from when I've been in them, only sells certain hunting rifles. No hand guns and yada, yada, yada.

Plus, this guy was carrying a pellet gun, not a real one. They may look the same, but I'm sure you're smart enough to figure out the differences.

[DavidDemonic]

Originally Posted by danielsan1971 ↗

OK. So this might sound like me being a Britisher, but here in England WalMart is called Asda. Asda is a 'family' supermarket, one of the biggest in the UK before a part take over from WalMart. I can't believe that in the US you can buy 'guns' from a supermarket!! That's fucking crazy!!! I am no gun expert and use the word in the 'bang' kind of way, but is it that easy to purchase one in the US??

Walmart only sells long guns, no pistols and you have to complete a federal background check but besides that yeah technically you can go to walmart and buy an AR-15 or shotgun or whatever no big deal..