Authorities in Alabama concluded Tuesday that an officer-involved shooting that left a 21-year-old man dead at a mall near Birmingham on Thanksgiving night was justified, although officers later determined the man was not involved in the initial shooting that prompted police response.
A Hoover police officer shot and killed Emantic Fitzgerald “E.J.” Bradford Jr. on Nov. 22 while responding to reports of a shooting as Black Friday shoppers began to gather at Riverchase Galleria. Police initially identified Bradford as the gunman who left a 12-year-old girl and 18-year-old Brian Wilson injured. Later, police said Bradford “likely did not fire the rounds,” sparking protests and drawing calls for a federal investigation.
Authorities in Georgia later arrested Erron Martez Dequan Brown, 20, on suspicion of attempted murder in connection to the shooting.
In a report issued Tuesday, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said Bradford was identified “as an immediate deadly threat” by an officer who saw him carrying a firearm near the scene shortly after shots rang out.
“(The officer’s) actions were reasonable under the circumstances and were consistent with his training and national-accepted standards for ‘active shooter’ scenarios,” the report stated.
“A reasonable person could have assumed that the only person with a gun who was running toward the victim of a shooting that occurred just three seconds earlier fired the shots. In fact, three other persons with similar second-floor vantage points—Eyewitness 1, Eyewitness 2, and Officer 2—all stated that, in that moment, they believed E.J. Bradford shot Brian Wilson.”
Officials with Alabama’s State Bureau of Investigation headed the probe, which involved interviews with four dozen people and a review of body camera and surveillance camera footage from the night of the shooting. Marshall reviewed the case after the Jefferson County District Attorney recused himself due to a conflict of interest stemming from the fact that the officer who shot Bradford was a witness or charging officer in several pending cases.
“Upon reviewing SBI’s investigative file and consulting with the special agent in charge of (the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s) active shooter training program, the attorney general has concluded that (the officer’s) actions were reasonable and not criminal,” the report stated.
In a statement released Tuesday, officials added, “it is the attorney general’s understanding that the FBI has found no evidence to initiate a case for civil rights violation(s).”
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