COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – The Ohio MP who shot Casey Goodson Jr. in the back five times last year is retiring due to disability, the Franklin County Sheriff said Friday.
Goodson, 23, a black man, was killed by White MP Jason Meade in a largely unexplained encounter last December.
Meade will be retiring on July 2nd, Franklin County Sheriff Dallas Baldwin said with no details.
“Law enforcement decisions about disability are governed by state law and made by the pension system,” said Baldwin. “As a sheriff, I have no control or influence over what the pension system decides in this or any other disability case.”
A message was left for the lawyer representing Meade.
The shooting occurred in Columbus on December 4, while Meade, a 17-year veteran sheriff’s office, was finishing an unsuccessful search for a fugitive while working for a refugee task force for the U.S. Marshals Office.
Goodson was not the subject of the refugee search. While US Marshal Peter Tobin initially said Meade confronted Goodson after Goodson drove by and waved a gun at the deputy, he later withdrew those comments, saying they were based on “insufficient information”.
CONTINUE READING: Mother of 23 year old black man killed by Ohio MPs demanding answers
Tobin also said Meade was doing “no mission” for the marshals at the time of the shooting.
Relatives say Goodson opened the door to his grandmother’s house at the time of his shooting. Officials said a gun was recovered from the scene but did not provide any further details. There was no body cam or cruiser dash cam video from the shoot.
The case continues to be investigated by the US Attorney General with assistance from the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. Meade wasn’t charged.
Goodson’s family are disappointed that Baldwin did not fire Meade, but his resignation offers “a small sense of relief,” said Sean Walton, a Goodson family attorney, in a statement.
Meade’s “sudden resignation shows that he understands that he will soon be held accountable for what he has done and that that day cannot come soon enough for Casey’s family and the entire community,” said Walton.
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