Officer in fatal Alabama mall shooting won’t face charges

A police officer who shot and killed a 21-year-old man at a mall in Alabama on Thanksgiving will not face charges, the state’s attorney general confirmed Tuesday.

A report from Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall says he determined the officer who shot and killed Emantic “E.J.” Bradford, Jr., during an active shooter situation at the mall did not commit a crime under Alabama law.

The report released Tuesday included surveillance footage from inside the Riverchase Galleria mall in Hoover, Ala., on Nov. 22. The report says that the officer, identified as Officer 1, should not be criminally charged for shooting Bradford.{mosads}

The officer fired on Bradford just seconds after two previous gunshots rang out at the mall. The report states that Bradford “was running toward the initial shooter and victim with a firearm visibly in hand.”

Police initially said that Bradford was the gunman who shot two other people at the mall, but later said he “likely did not fire the rounds” that hit them. Another man was arrested and charged with attempted murder for that shooting.

“Officer 1’s actions were reasonable under the circumstances and were consistent with his training and nationally-accepted standards for ‘active shooter’ scenarios,” the attorney general’s report states. 

“Accordingly, Officer 1’s actions do not constitute a crime under Alabama law … and therefore should not be presented to a grand jury for potential criminal prosecution.”

April Pipkins, Bradford’s mother, slammed the results of the investigation while speaking to local news outlets.

“You shoot my child three times and y’all call that justice? You put yourself in this situation and tell me how you would feel,” she said. “Do we really abide by the Constitution or does the color of your skin determine it?”

Many protests followed Bradford’s death and an independent autopsy found that he was shot from behind.

“We believe based on this forensic evidence that this officer should be charged with a crime,” an attorney representing Bradford’s family said in December.