Inquest: Montana officer justified in killing unarmed man

Police video footage of the April 2014 shooting of Richard Ramirez by Billings Police Officer Grant Morrison, center in screen, is shown to a seven-person jury in Billings, Mont. on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2015. The unarmed man killed by the police officer during a traffic stop was told repeatedly to raise his hands before the officer shot him three times, according to video footage. The jury will decide if the shooting was justified as part of a mandatory inquest into the shooting. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown) Police video footage of the April 2014 shooting of Richard Ramirez by Billings Police Officer Grant Morrison, center in screen, is shown to a seven-person jury in Billings, Mont. on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2015. The unarmed man killed by the police officer during a traffic stop was told repeatedly to raise his hands before the officer shot him three times, according to video footage. The jury will decide if the shooting was justified as part of a mandatory inquest into the shooting. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)

By Associated Press January 7, 2015 1 min read

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) – A coroner’s inquest has found that a Montana police officer was justified in shooting and killing an unarmed man during a traffic stop.

Wednesday’s decision comes after Billings police Officer Grant Morrison testified that he feared for his life when he fired the three shots that killed 38-year-old Richard Ramirez.

Morrison said he became convinced the man had a gun after Ramirez reached for his waistband during the 30-second encounter last April in a high-crime area of Montana’s largest city.

Ramirez’s family wanted criminal charges against Morrison.

The five-year police veteran shot and killed another man in 2013. He was cleared of any wrongdoing in that case.