PDF: Letter to the TN Bureau of InvestigationPDF: Dunn medical examiner report
Hamilton County District Attorney Bill Cox has closed one of last year's three officer-involved shootings in Hamilton County.
Mr. Cox found "no criminal culpability on the part of the officers" after receiving details of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's findings in the shooting death of Richard LaMark Dunn by East Ridge police on Aug. 8, 2009.
In a March letter to the TBI, Mr. Cox concluded that officers "acted in accordance with established law enforcement policies and procedures and, further, that the officers fired their weapons only as a result of being placed in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury."
Police shot Mr. Dunn, 20, after a short car chase in which he was driving a stolen Mercedes-Benz sedan, according to newspaper archives. He struck one police car, injuring an officer. Police alleged he was advancing on another officer with the car when he was shot.
Mr. Dunn's family maintained that police could have acted differently. They could not be reached for comment Wednesday on the district attorney's decision.
Christine Dunn, his mother, told the Times Free Press days after her son's death that he did steal the vehicle and his prior arrest record is why he fled. He had a suspended sentence from a 2007 burglary.
East Ridge police spokesman Officer Erik Hopkins said that, despite intense public scrutiny, the department maintained "a level of professionalism throughout the investigation."
Initial reports from the department showed the officers had acted according to policy, he said.
"I don't think that the ruling came as any surprise to us," he said.
Two other officer-involved shooting investigations await further action.
TBI spokeswoman Kristin Helm said an investigation into the July 1, 2009, shooting death of 15-year-old Alonzo O'Kelley by a Chattanooga Housing Authority police officer has been completed and results are being sent to Mr. Cox.
The agency still is awaiting laboratory reports to complete its findings on the July 18, 2009, shooting death of 32-year-old Alonzo Heyward by Chattanooga police officers. Six Chattanooga police officers shot at Mr. Heyward 59 times, leaving 43 entrance and exit wounds in his body, according to a report from the Hamilton County Medical Examiner's Office.
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