A district attorney in California announced Friday that an officer involved in a seemingly senseless shooting won't be charged with a crime. The shooting occurred the day before Thanksgiving in Paradise, CA. Officer Patrick Feaster witnessed a car leaving a bar parking lot with its headlights off. Feaster turned on his cruiser's lights attempted to pull over the vehicle. After a brief chase the car hit a median and flipped. Feaster's dashboard camera footage shows the chase and crash from afar.
What happened next is baffling. As Thomas struggled to squeeze himself out of the wreck, Feaster walked up to the car with his gun drawn. He then shot Thomas, who fell back into the car. The shot hit him in the neck and could possibly leave him paralyzed for life. Thomas' wife was thrown from the vehicle in the crash and died on the scene. Feaster never attempted to provide any medical care to the dying woman. Instead, he spent the 11 minutes waiting for back up looking for his spent shell casing. But after reviewing the dashboard camera footage, Butte county district attorney Mike Ramsey told SFGate the shooting was "not justified but also not criminal."
"The pistol discharges in mid stride and the officer both flinches his head to the right and does a 'stutter step' indicative of an officer not prepared for nor intentionally firing his pistol," Ramsey wrote in a letter to the Paradise Chief of Police. While Feaster escaped criminal charges, he could face termination for accidentally discharging his weapon. Prosecutors did charge the driver, Thomas, with manslaughter for causing the car crash that killed his wife, Fox 11 reported. Thomas has a long history of getting in trouble and then running from police.
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What happened next is baffling. As Thomas struggled to squeeze himself out of the wreck, Feaster walked up to the car with his gun drawn. He then shot Thomas, who fell back into the car. The shot hit him in the neck and could possibly leave him paralyzed for life. Thomas' wife was thrown from the vehicle in the crash and died on the scene. Feaster never attempted to provide any medical care to the dying woman. Instead, he spent the 11 minutes waiting for back up looking for his spent shell casing. But after reviewing the dashboard camera footage, Butte county district attorney Mike Ramsey told SFGate the shooting was "not justified but also not criminal."
"The pistol discharges in mid stride and the officer both flinches his head to the right and does a 'stutter step' indicative of an officer not prepared for nor intentionally firing his pistol," Ramsey wrote in a letter to the Paradise Chief of Police. While Feaster escaped criminal charges, he could face termination for accidentally discharging his weapon. Prosecutors did charge the driver, Thomas, with manslaughter for causing the car crash that killed his wife, Fox 11 reported. Thomas has a long history of getting in trouble and then running from police.
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