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Austin, Texas, police officer indicted for murder in fatal shooting
A grand jury has indicted an Austin, Texas, police officer on a first-degree murder charge in the fatal shooting of 42-year-old Michael Brent Ramos in last April, Travis County District Attorney José Garza said in a statement released Thursday.
The case against Austin Police Department Officer Christopher Taylor is the first known indictment of a city police officer for a use-of-force incident, Garza said in a statement.
The same grand jury declined to indict another officer for aggravated assault by a public servant for discharging a bean bag round before the fatal shooting, according to Garza. CNN has reached out to the officer’s attorney for comment.
Austin police officer indicted for murder in fatal shooting
CNN
Scene of the fatal officer involved shooting of a 42-year-old man on April 24, 2020 in Austin, Texas.
AUSTIN, Texas A grand jury has indicted an Austin police officer on a first-degree murder charge in the fatal shooting of 42-year-old Michael Brent Ramos in last April, Travis County District Attorney José Garza said in a statement released Thursday.
The case against Austin Police Department Officer Christopher Taylor is the first known indictment of a city police officer for a use-of-force incident, Garza said in a statement.
The same grand jury declined to indict another officer for aggravated assault by a public servant for discharging a bean bag round before the fatal shooting, according to Garza. CNN has reached out to the officer’s attorney for comment.
The indictment, which was first reported by the
Austin American-Statesman, marks a departure from the norm in Austin and Travis County police violence cases, most of which do not result in criminal prosecution. Taylor s bail is set at $100,000 and he s been charged with first-degree murder.
Garza, who ran on a progressive platform to more aggressively pursue investigations and prosecutions of police misconduct, said in an announcement confirming the indictment that it was a significant step towards justice.
Attorneys for Taylor decried the indictment, calling it the fulfillment of a campaign talking point and yet more evidence of anti-police bias.
The grand jury did not indict Mitchell Pieper, an officer who fired a so-called less-lethal round at Ramos during the incident.