Talladega grand jury finds fatal Police shooting of Black Man Justified

Wednesday, March 9, 2005 at 05:29AM
TheSpook

A Talladega County grand jury has determined that the shooting death of a robbery suspect by a police officer at a convenience store was justified, according to District Attorney Steve Giddens. The fatal shooting of Prince Rogers Patterson, 22, occurred after he entered Benny's Stop and Go on Jan. 23 and apparently attempted to rob it, with his actions caught on the store's surveillance camera. "At some point, he comes around the counter. One of the female clerks stepped on a silent alarm button in the floor and then ran to a secure area in the back of the store," Giddens said Monday. "The remaining clerk was taken by Patterson out of the range of the camera." When police arrived, one of the officers sprayed Patterson with pepper spray, but he lunged for a second officer who shot him twice, authorities said. Giddens said Patterson got up, walked out of the store and ran up the street before paramedics found him dead about 90 feet away. [more] and [more]

Article originally appeared on (http://brownwatch.com/).