Feds: No charges in Eutawville Police shooting of Unarmed Black Man after traffic stop

From [HERE] Federal investigators will not indict the former Eutawville police chief in the shooting death of 54-year-old Bernard Bailey. S.C. First Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe said he was informed earlier this month that the Department of Justice has concluded its investigation into the fatal 2011 shooting.

Pascoe said the conclusion of the federal investigation will not end the matter, however, as his office will conduct its own investigation while poring over the 500-page federal case file. That file has not been released. A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed for the shooting death that involved Eutawville's former police chief. Bernard Bailey's widow filed the suit for the death that took place back on May 2 of 2011.

The top prosecutor for the circuit said he has fewer resources than the federal government, but the investigation won’t take nearly as long. “It’s going to be much sooner than later,” he said. “I’m aware that the investigation has taken almost two years and it’s going to be expedited.”

As to why the federal authorities took so long, Pascoe declined to say. [victim is Black. Cop is white. Proseuctors are white, media is white = white supremacy.]

Investigators said Bailey was shot and killed during a confrontation with former Eutawville Police Chief Richard Combs, who had been certified as a law enforcement officer since 2001.

The 10-year police veteran was placed on paid administrative leave after the shooting. However, that status was amended two months later when Combs was placed on leave without pay.

Town officials said later they had “parted ways” with Combs, but would not specify under what conditions.

Details of the shooting have been a closely guarded secret. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI stepped in after the incident and information was shut off.

What was released prior to federal involvement indicated that a verbal altercation between Combs and Bailey began at Town Hall and turned into a moving argument that led to Bailey’s truck.

When Bailey reportedly tried to drive away with Combs in between the truck and the truck’s door, he was shot three times, twice in the chest.

Residents said that Bailey came to the town hall to pay a water bill and to inquire about a traffic ticket that his daughter had gotten. They say after that, the deadly shots rang out.

An eyewitness claims to have seen the reverse lights on Bailey’s Chevrolet truck come on. The witnesses said when the officer reached the truck, a struggle ensued at the driver’s side door. Apparently, Bailey got out of the car and a confrontation ensued. All indications are that Bailey was unarmed. [MORE]

Pascoe said he’ll pull together a team, including the State Law Enforcement Division, to continue the investigation.