Trial set in suit over Walmart shooting of black man by cop

DAYTON, Ohio – A jury trial is scheduled Feb. 4 in the wrongful death lawsuit over a white police officer’s fatal shooting of a black man in an Ohio Walmart who was carrying an air rifle he picked up from a shelf.

Twenty-two-year-old John Crawford III was shot at the Beavercreek store in suburban Dayton in August 2014. His family sued the city, police and the retailer in federal court.

The Dayton Daily News reports lawyers for Crawford’s family and Walmart each requested summary judgment, arguing some claims can be decided in their favour from the facts, without trial. The judge hasn’t ruled on that.

Federal authorities concluded there wasn’t enough evidence to charge the officer who killed Crawford while responding to a 911 call. He said he perceived an “imminent threat .”

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Information from: Dayton Daily News, http://www.daytondailynews.com