Alvarez balks at charges in Ronald Johnson police shooting, says video shows gun

The Chicago Tribune reports:

Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez announced Monday that no criminal charges will be brought against a Chicago police officer in the fatal shooting of Ronald Johnson III because a dash-cam video of the shooting shows Johnson wielding a gun.

Alvarez went into great detail at a 75-minute news conference to explain her decision not to charge Officer George Hernandez with any offense. She played the video, a sample of 911 recordings and recordings of officers calling in updates on police radios of a man with a gun.

Alvarez called Hernandez's use of deadly force "reasonable and permissible," citing that Johnson was running toward a police vehicle and a public park just east of King Drive and 53rd Street on the South Side.

She said Johnson posed an immediate threat to the officers and anyone in that area of Washington Park, meaning Hernandez was warranted in using deadly force. To show how such events can quickly turn tragic for police, Alvarez also played a video of an unrelated shooting in which a fleeing suspect had shot and wounded an officer giving chase.

Courts have ruled that officers have to make split-second decisions under high stress, she noted.

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