No Indictment for Officers Involved in John Crawford’s Killing at Walmart

An Ohio grand jury has declined to indict officers who killed Crawford for holding a toy gun.

By Aura Bogado Sep 24, 2014

A Greene County, Ohio, grand jury has declined to indict two Beavercreek police officers involved in the shooting and killing of 22-year-old John Crawford at a Dayton area Walmart.

Crawford was shopping on August 5 when he picked up a BB gun from a store shelf. He was on his cell phone as he carried the toy gun around at Walmart. Fellow shopper Ronald Ritchie called 911 and said Crawford was pointing the BB gun at people–although in an interview with The Guardian, he later admitted that Crawford never pointed it at anyone.

Officer Sean Williams and Seargent David Darkow, who are both white, responded to the scene and maintain that they ordered Crawford, who is black, to drop his weapon; Williams fired because Crawford allegedly refused. But Crawford’s family says he was never ordered to put down the toy gun. A special grand jury heard from 18 witnesses during the course of two days and revealed its decision Wednesday morning.

The Ohio Student Association, which organized a 11-mile march called Journey for Justice today through Greene County, is calling for the Department of Justice to open its own investigation into Crawford’s killing.