A prosecutor's office has ruled that a Little Rock police officer was justified in the shooting of an unarmed man last December, an official said Tuesday.
Officer Kalvin Snow shot and injured Gary Johnson during a December incident in southwest Little Rock. After reviewing the investigative case file, the Pulaski County prosecuting attorney's office ruled that Snow was justified in the shooting, chief deputy prosecutor John Johnson said.
Police found Gary Johnson on the porch outside of 34 Harrow Drive the evening of Dec. 5 after he had reportedly called 911 and said he was armed with two handguns and had killed people, according to a statement from police.
On the porch, Gary Johnson had his hands in his jacket pockets and did not follow the officers' repeated commands to show his hands, according to the statement.
Gary Johnson began walking rapidly into the street before quickly taking his hand out of his pocket and extending his arm toward the officers, police said.
Snow shot Johnson, causing him to fall on the ground, police said. Once on the ground, Johnson extended his hand again, and Snow fired a second time, the statement said.
Police said Snow fired because he feared Johnson had a handgun. Police later found that Johnson was unarmed and had not killed anybody. Johnson was not charged in the incident.
Given all the facts and circumstances of the incident, prosecutor John Johnson said it was apparent that the officer was justified in the use of force.
John Johnson said a dash camera on a police vehicle also captured images of the incident. Four to five senior attorneys review the case files on officer-involved shootings before the office makes a determination, John Johnson said.
Arkansas state law permits law enforcement officers to use deadly force to defend themselves or a third person "from what the law enforcement officer reasonably believes to be the use or imminent use of deadly physical force."
According to the statute, a law enforcement officer is also justified in using deadly force if they believe the force is necessary to prevent the escape of an arrested person who is armed or dangerous and has committed a felony.
The incident on Harrow Drive last December was the fifth shooting involving a Little Rock officer in 2016. Prosecutors have found all five shootings to be justified uses of force.
Across Arkansas, police used deadly force 33 times in 2016, killing 21 people. Six of those 33 people, including Gary Johnson, were unarmed, and eight of those 33 people suffered from mental illness.
Gary Johnson was once diagnosed with a mental illness and had been under state supervision for several years, according to court records.
There have been three shootings involving Little Rock police so far this year. All three of those shootings have been fatal. Officer Steve Moore, a police spokesman, said the three case files have not yet been sent to the prosecuting attorney's office for review.
In the first of those shootings, Little Rock detective Angela Everett was working off-duty Feb. 24 when she shot and killed 44-year-old Gregory Lamont Childress. Police said Childress attempted to rob Everett and fired his weapon at her before she returned fire, fatally hitting him.
About a month later, on March 26, Michael Hornibrook was fatally shot by Little Rock police in an alleyway behind the downtown bar Ernie Biggs, police said. According to police, Hornibrook reportedly raised a firearm toward officers.
Little Rock officers Brian Osmundson and Samuel Hill fired at Hornibrook.
The most recent shooting involving a Little Rock officer came on April 5 when Austin Snyder, 22, was fatally shot in the parking lot of the Extended Stay America hotel located at 10800 Kanis Road, police said.
Information for this report was contributed by Scott Carroll, Amanda Claire Curcio and Hunter Field of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Metro on 06/07/2017