No charges for officer in Missouri shooting

CLAYTON, Mo. — St. Louis County’s prosecutor announced Thursday that he will not charge the former police officer who fatally shot Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., a dramatic decision that could reopen old wounds amid a renewed and intense national conversation about racial injustice and the police treatment of people of color.

Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell’s decision marked the third time prosecutors investigated and opted not to charge Darren Wilson, the white officer who fatally shot Brown, a Black 18-year-old, on Aug. 9, 2014. A St. Louis County grand jury declined to indict Wilson in November 2014, and the U.S. Department of Justice also declined to charge him in March 2015.

The shooting happened after Wilson told Brown and a friend to get out of the street as they walked. A scuffle ensued, ending with the fatal shot. Wilson said Brown, who was not armed, came at him menacingly.

Brown’s body remained in the street for four hours.

“My heart breaks” for Brown’s parents, Bell said during a news conference. “I know this is not the result they were looking for and that their pain will continue forever.”

Bell said that his office conducted a five-month review.

“The question for this office was a simple one: Could we prove beyond a reasonable doubt that when Darren Wilson shot Micheal Brown he committed murder or manslaughter under Missouri law? After an independent and in-depth review of the evidence, we cannot prove that he did,” Bell said.

Wilson’s attorney, Jim Towey, said it was clear Wilson did nothing wrong. “We all had the same conclusion: There was no crime,” Towey said.

The shooting touched off months of unrest in Ferguson and helped solidify the national Black Lives Matter movement.