No charges filed against officers who shot Javario Eagle

A Hamilton County Sheriff's office crime scene investigator photographs the scene of a Chattanooga Police officer-involved shooting at Emma Wheeler Homes on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Chattanooga Police Chief Fred Fletcher said that multiple officers shot and killed Javario S. Eagle, 24, after he endangered the lives of a child and officers while armed with a handgun outside of an apartment at 5113 Woodland View Circle.
A Hamilton County Sheriff's office crime scene investigator photographs the scene of a Chattanooga Police officer-involved shooting at Emma Wheeler Homes on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Chattanooga Police Chief Fred Fletcher said that multiple officers shot and killed Javario S. Eagle, 24, after he endangered the lives of a child and officers while armed with a handgun outside of an apartment at 5113 Woodland View Circle.
photo Javario Eagle

The district attorney's office will not file charges against the six officers who fatally shot a 24-year-old black man in December.

Hamilton County District Attorney General Neal Pinkston announced today deadly force was justified in the deadly shooting of Javario Eagle on Dec. 12, 2015, at 5113 Woodland View Circle.

During the standoff, the 24-year-old father grabbed a gun and pointed it at an officer, according to a press release. Prior to that, he ignored numerous orders to surrender, the release says.

"General Pinkston's review is intended to determine whether Chattanooga Police officers performed their duties in a legally justified manner," office spokeswoman Melydia Clewell wrote in a statement. "It does not address compliance with department policies or any issues related to civil liability."

Officers Lorin Johnston, Allen Griffith, Tim McFarland, Mitchell Moss, Christopher Palmer and Jacques Weary were put on paid leave after the shooting. They were listed in today's press release.

The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office took over the criminal investigation into Eagle's death immediately and turned their investigative report over to Pinkston's office for a decision on whether or not the shooting was justified.

Police Chief Fred Fletcher said Wednesday that he has not seen a copy of that investigative report and did not know about Pinkston's decision until the office's press release this morning.

"The Chief of Police has not received a copy of this investigative report following the completion of General Pinkston's review," spokesman Kyle Miller said in a statement. "The Chief was notified via media reports this morning concerning the General's decision and spoke directly to the General moments ago to request a copy of the report."

The police department will now conduct an internal administrative review to check whether officers followed department policy during the shooting, Miller added.

On Dec. 12., Eagle went in and out of the house several times, each time armed, and then left the home a final time with a knife and a handgun, Fletcher said at the time.

Fletcher said Eagle had a 4-year-old girl with him that final time.

Fletcher said officers tried to coax the girl away from Eagle and an officer left cover to grab the girl once she moved away from her father. At that point, Fletcher said, Eagle "aggressively moved toward" the officer and the child, and multiple officers began to shoot.

Pinkston today said that that aggressive movement was Eagle pulling his pistol.

A video of the killing taken by a bystander shows multiple officers surrounding Eagle while bystanders yell at Eagle to put the gun down.

At one point Eagle falls to the ground - the bystander recording the video says, "They shot him," - and then several officers move closer to Eagle.

During a press conference, Pinkston said investigators recovered a bullet that Eagle shot through his apartment roof.

Pinkston also released the sheriff's case file, which he has been reviewing for the last two weeks.

The Times Free Press received a copy of Eagle's 11:51 a.m. call to a 911 dispatcher on Dec. 12, 2015.

On the phone, Eagle asks about a secret society, says he's going to work, then begins screaming about how "they're killing our kids."

When the dispatcher asks who they is, Eagle never answers the question.

Stay tuned. This is a developing story.

Upcoming Events