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Alabama AG taking over case of black man killed by police

In this still image taken from video, April Pipkins holds a photograph of her deceased son, Emantic "EJ" Bradford Jr., during an interview in Birmingham, Ala., on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018. Bradford was shot to death by a police officer in a shopping mall on Thanksgiving night, and Pipkins said she believes her son would still be alive had he been white. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves)
In this still image taken from video, April Pipkins holds a photograph of her deceased son, Emantic "EJ" Bradford Jr., during an interview in Birmingham, Ala., on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018. Bradford was shot to death by a police officer in a shopping mall on Thanksgiving night, and Pipkins said she believes her son would still be alive had he been white. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves) In this still image taken from video, April Pipkins holds a photograph of her deceased son, Emantic "EJ" Bradford Jr., during an interview in Birmingham, Ala., on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018. Bradford was shot to death by a police officer in a shopping mall on Thanksgiving night, and Pipkins said she believes her son would still be alive had he been white. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves)

By Associated Press 2 min read

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – The investigation of the fatal shooting of a black man by a police officer inside Alabama’s largest shopping mall is now in the hands of the state attorney general, he announced Thursday.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said at a news conference that his office will oversee the case to prevent the appearance of any possible conflicts involving local officials over the fatal shooting of Emantic “EJ” Bradford Jr., whose death on Thanksgiving night has led to nearly-daily protests.

The officer, whose name has not been released by authorities, mistook Bradford for the gunman in a shooting that happened moments earlier inside the Riverchase Galleria in the Birmingham suburb of Hoover, officials have said.

The officer who shot Bradford was the charging officer in about 20 cases involving local prosecutors in Jefferson County, where the man was killed, according to Marshall. Jefferson County’s newly elected district attorney, Danny Carr, has “personal relationships” with some of the protesters calling for the officer to be prosecuted, Marshall said in a letter to Carr that was released by the attorney general’s office.

Marshall said that while he did not believe any conflict existed, having the attorney general’s office assume control of the case would prevent any problems.