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James Crowell, BART Officer Who Shot Charles Hill, ‘Acted Lawfully’ According To District Attorney (VIDEO)

Posted on February 23, 2012 by admin

The report included statements from witnesses, as well as statements from Crowell, in which he explained his thinking during the incident.

“I’m close to this guy within that 21-foot threshold that I’ve been trained that is the danger zone for a knife or a deadly weapon,” explained Crowell during the investigation. “You know, it’s me or him at this point and my partner’s life’s in danger and my life’s in danger,” he said. “Yeah, I feared for my life.”

When asked why Crowell didn’t use his Taser or some other deterrent, Crowell claimed that he was only following his training:

“The situation he’s presenting, a deadly weapon. So my first thought was deadly weapon. My training tells me to present an equal or greater force and that’s why I’m instructed to fire because I didn’t feel that any other weapon or anything else on my belt is going to meet what he’s presenting,” he said.

The July incident led some to question the process of BART officer training, especially as it was the second fatal shooting by a BART officer in 18 months. In 2009, BART officer Johannes Mehserle shot and killed an unarmed and contained Oscar Grant at the Fruitvale BART Station. Opponents argued that the BART police were out of control, with some comparing the agency’s behavior to that of a police state.

The incident also prompted a lawsuit filed by Charles Hill’s brother, Chris Hill, against BART. According to the Bay Citizen, the Hill family Attorney John Burris was not surprised by the District Attorney’s decision.

“We don’t have many prosecutions of officers that kill people,” said Burris to the Bay Citizen. “This won’t affect the civil case that we have against BART.”


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