- Police Brutality Watch

The U.S. Justice Department has cleared a white Concordia Parish deputy in last summer's shooting of a black man in Ferriday, the Sheriff's Office said. Deputy David Hedrick said he shot Frederick Lollis in self-defense. The NAACP had contended the August shooting was racially motivated. The Justice Department's criminal section in Washington has closed its investigation, according to a news release issued by the Concordia Parish Sheriff's Office. Sheriff Randy Maxwell stressed that Hedrick has now been cleared of any wrongdoing by local, state and federal agencies. At the time of the shooting, police said that Hedrick was responding to a complaint from a man who said two people had hit him with a gun. Hedrick and the victim were in Hedrick's car when the victim pointed out his attackers on the road, Maxwell said. Hedrick stopped and got out. Maxwell said Lollis was one of the men and had a baseball bat. The deputy told the men they were under arrest and ordered Lollis to drop the bat and both men to get on the ground, according to last August's account by Maxwell. Maxwell said Lollis moved toward the officer and Hedrick sprayed him with Mace. It was then that Lollis pulled a 9mm gun from his waistband. The gun was pointed at Hedrick as the officer continued to shout for Lollis to put his weapon down, Maxwell said. Hedrick fired four or five shots and then called for backup and an ambulance. [more]