Officer who fatally shot Michael Brown in 2014 won't be criminally charged, after another probe

Officer Darren Wilson had already been cleared by a grand jury and in a federal investigation

Published: July 30, 2020 6:04pm

Updated: July 31, 2020 12:01am

The St. Louis-area police officer who fatally shot Michael Brown in 2014 will not be criminally charged, the St. Louis County prosecutor announced on Thursday.

The officer, Darren Wilson, who is white, had already been cleared by a grand jury and in a federal investigation months after the shooting of Brown, a black teenager, in Ferguson, Mo.

Wilson is no longer on the Ferguson police force.

"Can we prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime occurred?" the new prosecutor, Wesley Bell, said at a news conference. "The answer to that is no."

Brown was 18 when he got into a confrontation with Wilson, who was in a police vehicle. A struggle turned into a pursuit that ended with Wilson fatally shooting Brown.

Witnesses said Brown had his hands up when he was shot — sparking protests and a rallying cry — but federal and local investigators say the evidence suggested otherwise, according to The New York Times.