Stunning news out of Ohio. Special prosecutor Mark Piepmeier has announced that after three days of grand jury testimony, there will be
no indictments in the shooting death of John Crawford III, which took place inside an Ohio Walmart in August.
Video taken from Walmart surveillance cameras were released at the press conference and they still don't seem to tell the whole story.
Based on the video they released, Crawford does not appear to be pointing the air rifle at anyone. Ronald Ritchie was the 911 caller who alerted police and claimed:
Ronald Ritchie said Crawford "was just waving [the gun] at children and people...I couldn't hear anything that he was saying. I'm thinking that he is either going to rob the place or he's there to shoot somebody.
"He didn't really want to be looked at and when people did look at him, he was pointing the gun at them. He was pointing at people. Children walking by," Ronald Ritchie said.
Unless there is additional video supporting Ritchie's original claims, which he has since
recanted, it is hard to imagine why charges haven't been brought against Ronald Ritchie at a minimum.
Crawford's family, who were on the phone with him at the time of the shooting, are disputing the police version of events, specifically that he ignored warnings to drop the "weapon."
See the press conference and surveillance video below the fold.
10:25 AM PT: To clarify, the grand jury were only considering whether to indict the two police officers who fatally shot John Crawford III. No word on whether any action will be taken against Ronald Ritchie for the exaggerated and/or false claims he made to the 911 operator.