The Detroit police who fatally shot and killed Hakim Littleton during an arrest last July will not be charged because Littleton opened fire on a police officer first, which made the law enforcement’s shots back justifiable, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced on Wednesday, according to an article from the Detroit Free Press.
“The officers, in this case, acted with lawful self-defense; there will be no charges,” Worthy said in the article.
Worthy handed down her decision about nine months post his death, which caused a social media firestorm from Black Lives Matter groups and local groups who were up in arms about his death — protestors also poured out in opposition of the police. The social media and in-person protests were before evidence was released that Littleton opened fire first.
“There has been an enormous amount of misinformation that has been generated on social media about the true facts of this case,” Worthy said at Wednesday’s news conference, during which she replayed video of the shooting, and offered witness testimony.
Police video captured the shooting on camera, which happened on Littleton near San Juan and McNichols, according to the story. After Littleton pulled a gun out of his pocket, pointed it at the head of an officer, and pulled the trigger, which caused the police to respond back.
According to Police Chief James Craig, the police incident occurred when officers were going to arrest another person with alleged ties to a block party shooting when they faced Littleton, who pulled out a gun while standing on a sidewalk, the article said.
Three other officers at the scene fired at Littleton, who fell to the ground and was held by a police officer, according to the article.
When Littleton fell to the ground, Craig mentioned that he fired two more shots.
Craig and Mayor Mike Duggan have both said that the shooting was justifiable.
“The video is clear that the officer was suddenly and unexpectedly fired upon. I commend Chief Craig for moving so quickly to release the video publicly,” Duggan said last summer in the article.
“It’s important to get the facts right,” Craig previously said in the article. “It’s always tragic when a police officer has to use force.”
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