FAYETTEVILLE -- Fayetteville Police Department investigators found the police officer who shot a Marianna man last month followed proper protocol, according to a news release Tuesday.
The internal police investigation is closed.
Fast fact
Matthew Anderson was the last person before Tillman to be shot and killed by Fayetteville police. Anderson was white.
Source: Fayetteville Police Department
Officer Brandon Jones will return to work, spokesman Sgt. Craig Stout said. Jones had been on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the internal investigation. Cpl. Patrick Hanby, who also was involved in the shooting, was never placed on leave, Stout said.
Jones shot Willie Sherman Tillman, 33, four times April 22, during a traffic stop that turned into a fight between Tillman and police in a moving vehicle. Tillman was taken to a hospital where he died 18 days later.
In a news release Wednesday, police said, "[T]he investigation clearly indicated the officers' actions were justified, lawful and proper. Both officers' actions were found to be within Fayetteville Police Department Policies, Procedures and Rules."
On Wednesday, about 40 Northwest Arkansas residents gathered outside the Police Department and repeatedly said "Willie Tillman" in unison during a vigil and protest. People held signs asking why Tillman died and supporting black lives. The event was meant to honor Tillman and spotlight racial problems some residents see between the community and Police Department, said Fernando Garcia, an event organizer.
Garcia is a delegate for the Industrial Workers of the World.
Other groups involved in organizing the protest included HandsUpNWA, whose goal is "to raise awareness regarding the infringement of human rights by authorities," according to the group's social media page online.
The Fayetteville Police Department doesn't reflect the makeup of the community, Garcia said. The Police Department has 111 sworn officers, and 94 percent are white, according to a demographics report provided by Stout.
The Fayetteville police should be more transparent about what happened to Tillman, protesters said Wednesday. Tillman wasn't armed, they said. He shouldn't have been killed, they said.
Prosecutor Matt Durrett said no information, including any video, would be released until the criminal investigation into Tillman's death is finished.
The Washington County Sheriff's Office is expected to finish its investigation by the end of the week, said Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Kelly Cantrell. The file will be turned over to the Prosecutor's Office.
The investigation is taking too long, said Rodell Livingston, a close friend of Tillman and his family.
"They already had two weeks to come up with their story," Livingston said.
Livingston drove from Marianna to speak at the protest, he said. Fayetteville police are afraid of Marianna people and target them, he said.
"Sherman was a regular guy -- like any of us," Livingston said. "He didn't have to die."
Livingston said Tillman had three children, loved his mother and was an artist.
Residents circulated a petition Wednesday asking the police to release recordings and videos. They also asked for more community involvement, including funding a group to watch police officers and hold them more accountable. The petition also asked Jones to be placed on leave without pay.
Protesters taped the petition to the front door of the Police Department.
During the fight on April 22, Jones was trapped in the moving vehicle with Tillman, who had hit Jones several times and used the officer's stun gun on him, the release said. Jones drew his gun, but Tillman grabbed it, according to the report. Jones then shot Tillman in the chest, abdomen and leg, according to the release.
After the vehicle stopped, Tillman was pulled from the vehicle after more officers arrived, according to the report. He was taken to a hospital where he died Monday, according to the report.
New information released Wednesday shows police believe evidence supports Jones' report.
Police found three shell casings in the vehicle and a fourth in Jones' gun, the release said. The gun failed to properly cycle, which may corroborate Jones' report Tillman grabbed the gun, according to the report.
Investigators also found an outline of "latent prints wrapped around the slide of Officer Jones' gun," the report shows.
Tillman had been in trouble with Fayetteville police before, according to police and court documents.
Police found drugs and a gun on Tillman in June and in 2007, according to a profile sheet provided by the Police Department.
Tillman was charged with possession of a controlled substance with the purpose of delivering, possession of firearms by a certain person and simultaneously possessing firearms and a controlled substance in Pope County Circuit Court in March, court records show. In Washington County, Tillman faced a charge of possession of marijuana with the purpose of delivering.
Tillman also had an open case filed against him in 2014 in Cross County Circuit Court. There he faced charges of aggravated assault, terroristic act, possession of a defaced firearm and possession of a firearm by a certain person, circuit court records show.
Tillman was convicted on several drug-related charges, said Solomon Graves, Arkansas Department of Correction spokesman. He was in prison from 2005 to 2006 and 2007 to 2013, Graves said.
NW News on 05/12/2016