Georgia grand jury clears officer in shooting of unarmed black man
By Rich McKay
ATLANTA (Reuters) - A Georgia grand jury on Thursday declined to indict an Atlanta-area police officer in the shooting death of an unarmed black man who drove at police in a Maserati, officials said.
Nicholas Thomas, 25, was shot to death in March by Sergeant Kenneth Owens of the Smyrna, Georgia, police force. Thomas was driving toward officers, putting them at grave risk, when he was shot, police said.
The shooting spurred protests in the Atlanta area over law enforcement's use of lethal force against minority groups. It followed a spate of killings of unarmed black men by police within the last year, triggering demonstrations across the country.
In two of those killings, in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York City's Staten Island, grand juries declined to bring charges against police officers.
Cobb County District Attorney Vic Reynolds said Thursday that the Smyrna shooting was justified.
Police were trying to serve a warrant on Thomas at a car repair shop where he worked. When he saw police, he stole a Maserati that he was fixing, officials said.
When Thomas drove the vehicle toward police officers, Owens fired on the vehicle.
Thomas' parents and others contended that Thomas was not a danger to anyone and other methods could have been used to arrest him. His family could not be reached for comment immediately after the grand jury announcement.
Local news reports reported that Thomas saw the police and drove the vehicle out of the repair stall, and then drove it several times around the repair shop when police fired into the moving vehicle.
The medical examiner's report says that Thomas died of a gunshot after a bullet hit his lungs and aorta.
The grand jury recommended no further action be taken.
"The loss of life is unfortunate and I sincerely sympathize with Mr. Thomas's survivors," Reynolds said in a statement. "But when he drove the vehicle toward officers in the manner he did, the officer who fired the shots was justified under the law to use lethal force."
(Reporting by Rich McKay; Writing by Karen Brooks; Editing by Mohammad Zargham, Christian Plumb and Andrew Hay)
