
SANTA ANA, Calif. — Prosecutors said criminal charges will not be filed against an off-duty LAPD officer who fired his gun during a scuffle with a 13-year-old boy last year.
The announcement was made by the Orange County District Attorney at a Wednesday morning press conference, where video of the altercation was shown. It comes almost exactly a year after the incident itself.
After an off-duty cop fired his gun during an altercation with teens, many took to the streets of Anaheim in protest.
The fight in the Anaheim front yard of Officer Kevin Ferguson 11 months ago was captured on two widely circulated videos that spurred heated anti-police protests in the city.
The videos showed Ferguson exchanging angry words several teenagers who had walked across his lawn.
A teen can be heard in the videos saying that the officer made an offensive comment to a female friend of his.
The argument turned physical with the 13-year-old, and Ferguson pulled out a gun and fired it into the ground, sending the teens running and screaming.
The boy and another teen were arrested but Ferguson was not, fueling the anger of hundreds of protesters who took to the streets in the nights that followed. Dozens were arrested after blocking traffic.
In one of the videos, posted on YouTube and spread on social media, Ferguson said he had heard the boy say he was going to “shoot” him, but the teen insists he said he was going to “sue” him.
Ferguson’s attorney Larry Hanna has said Ferguson feared for his own and his sick father’s safety because of the teens, who he had reported to police before.
Ferguson was pulled from the street and put on desk duty for the LAPD at the time. It’s not clear what his current status is.
Source: http://abc7.com/da-to-decide-if-officer-who-fired-gun-in-teen-fight-in-oc-will-be-charged/2984105/