Guard Who Fatally Shot Man at a Walgreens Won’t Be Charged, Prosecutor Says
A security guard at a Walgreens in San Francisco will not be charged with murder after he fatally shot a man who was accused of shoplifting, the district attorney said this week.
In a statement on Monday, the district attorney, Brooke Jenkins, said that prosecutors could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury that the guard was guilty of a crime after they reviewed statements from witnesses and the guard, along with video footage of the April 27 episode at a store on Market Street.
“The evidence clearly shows that the suspect believed he was in mortal danger and acted in self-defense,” Ms. Jenkins said in the statement, referring to the private security guard, who was identified by the San Francisco Police Department as Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony, 33.
Although Ms. Jenkins called the killing of the man, Banko Brown, a “tragedy,” she said: “We cannot bring forward charges when there is credible evidence of reasonable self-defense. Doing so would be unethical and create false hope for a successful prosecution.”
Source: The New York Times
