A prosecutor says he will not charge three police officers in South Carolina in the death of a man who was shot 19 times because he was holding a gun that fired...
SUMTER, S.C. (AP) — The Latest on a prosecutor not charging officers in a South Carolina police shooting (all times local):
3:10 p.m.
A prosecutor says he will not charge three police officers in South Carolina in the death of a man who was shot 19 times because he was holding a gun that fired at least one shot as he wrestled with an officer.
Solicitor Chip Finney said Wednesday the footage of a muzzle flash on the video combined with DNA proved that 35-year-old Waltki Williams fired his gun. Finney cleared three Sumter Police officers in the Dec. 10 shooting.
Finney says officers came to the mall after Williams’ 16-year-old girlfriend said he was going to shoot her. Williams led police on a brief chase that ended in a crash, then broke out his window and ran.
Williams was shot 19 times, but Finney says that force was justified to stop the threat once officers saw Williams’ gun.
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9:45 a.m.
A lawyer for the family of a man killed by police in South Carolina says he plans to continue his lawsuit after seeing video of the shooting.
Solicitor Chip Finney showed the footage to Waltki Williams’ family Tuesday. Finney plans a news conference Wednesday to announce whether he’ll file charges against the Sumter police officers.
Attorney Carter Elliott said Finney also showed pictures of Williams holding a gun. Carter’s lawsuit says Williams was unarmed, and he says the video didn’t appear to show anything in Williams’ hand when he first ran from police.
Elliott says Williams was shot 19 times by three officers, with an autopsy showing 17 of the shots entering his back. Officers were investigating whether Williams pointed a gun at his girlfriend on Dec. 10.
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