SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- A San Antonio police officer who accidentally shot a robbery victim over the weekend while aiming for a suspect was cleared of wrongdoing on Tuesday.
Police Chief William McManus and Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed said the officer will not face criminal charges even though the badly beaten victim later died as a result of his injuries.
Early Sunday, a witness flagged down the officer, William Karman, to intervene as a 45-year-old Austin man was being kicked and punched near San Antonio College. The witness told police that three men had jumped out of a car and demanded money before attacking James Whitehead.
Karman told investigators he saw 22-year-old Jesse Ramon pointing a gun at Whitehead and ordered him to stop. Ramon instead pointed the gun at the officer and moved toward him, Reed said. Karman fired two shots and then three more, striking Ramon four times while Whitehead lay on the ground behind him, McManus said. One of the bullets struck Whitehead, who later died at a hospital.
Ramon survived and was hospitalized in stable condition Tuesday. McManus called the incident "unfortunate" but said the officer felt threatened by Ramon and was trying to protect Whitehead from further harm when he fired.
Reed agreed and said Karman, who was placed on administrative duty after the shooting, has been cleared.
"This is absolutely, totally a clean case of justification of an officer's actions," she said. "The officer was doing what he was hired to do, which is protect the public."
Ramon and two other men allegedly involved in the robbery, Michael Martinez and Fernando Rodriguez, both 21, were arrested and charged with capital murder. Bond for all three was set at $500,000, and jail records list no attorneys.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
