The Dallas Morning News reports that the district attorney’s office has wrapped up its investigation of the July 2016 shootings that left five police officers dead and ended when police used a robot equipped with explosives to kill the shooter. A grand jury on Wednesday declined to press criminal charges against any of the officers involved in the action taken to end the standoff.
Here’s the statement from the DA:
As with all officer involved shootings, the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office presented the July 7, 2016 case involving the ambush of officers with the Dallas Police Department and the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Police Department to a grand jury. The Grand Jury returned a no bill. All evidence related to this case has been returned to the Dallas Police Department. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the families of those who lost their lives that night, the officers who were injured, and all of the men and women who courageously put themselves into harm’s way, all in an effort to protect our community.
Dallas police sent over this statement:
The Dallas Police Department, DART Police Department, the families of the fallen officers, and our community will never forget the tragedy of July 7, 2016 and the impact it has had on all of us. We are pleased with the outcome of this investigation and we hope to continue to move forward with the healing process. Please continue to pray for the families of our fallen and the Dallas Police Department.
What the department did not send over was an answer to the question of whether, now that the DA has closed its investigation and returned police evidence to investigators, authorities will release any of the still undisclosed details surrounding the decision to use a police robot to kill Micah X. Johnson.
The Morning News summed up those outstanding questions:
What types of guns did Johnson use? What exactly did he say during the 4 1/2 hours of negotiations with police? How did police use the robot, armed with C-4, to kill Johnson? He claimed — falsely — to have booby-trapped downtown with explosives, but what was found in his home?
It is believed that the Dallas Police Department is the first law enforcement agency in the country to use a robot to kill someone. In this case, it is clear to see how that decision was justified, to prevent an armed man from hurting anyone else. But it also raises ethical and practical issues for the future of police work, issues that can’t be resolved until we know more about what happened on one of the most tragic nights in Dallas’ history.
