Police Will Not Face Charges In 2011 Memorial Day Shooting
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MIAMI BEACH (CBSMiami) -- After prosecutors decided not to charge officers involved in a deadly shooting on Memorial Day Weekend in 2011, newly-released surveillance video shows the chaotic scene that unfolded on South Beach.
In the video, people are seen scrambling to get out-of-the-way along Collins Avenue and 14th Street as a vehicle driven by 22-year-old Raymond Herisse tries to flee from police.
"His vehicle was shot at over 100 times and he died as a result," said family attorney Marwan Porter.
Four bystanders were also injured as officers fired their weapons trying to stop Herisse who was driving drunk through Collins Avenue, plowing into several cars and nearly running over several bicycle cops.
New pictures released, as well, show the damage done to cars and bicycles on the ground.
Click here to watch Oralia Ortega's report.
In a long-awaited ruling on the controversial incident, the Miami-Dade State Attorney's office officially ruled that the 12 officers were "legally justified" in killing Herisse.
The State Attorney's Office issued a statement on the matter saying, "In each of the different shooting incidents, the evidence points to the conclusion that the officers did not commit a criminal act and were justified in the use of the deadly force they reasonably believed to be necessary to defend themselves from bodily harm or using while attempting to arrest Mr. Herisse, who was a feeling from the commission of multiple felonies."
In the report, more than 60 witness summaries provided a picture of the events that lead up to the shooting of Herisse.
His family attorney said for the first time in nearly four years, the family's getting some answers as to what happened.
"Raymond did not shoot a gun. He did not shoot at any officer. He did not run over any officer and there were some policy violations," said Porter.
The family's attorney said the decision paves the way for the civil lawsuit to move forward.
"They were disappointed in the State Attorney's Office deciding not to prosecute but they were very happy to finally get some closure and have a lot of questions that they've had for numerous years answered," said Porter.
Following the shooting, outraged families filed lawsuits and Miami Beach Police changed their policy.
Miami Beach's Police Chief Daniel Oates issued a statement following the decision saying, "Now that the State Attorney has made her decision, it is time for our Internal Affairs Unit to fully investigate this shooting. We will conduct a thorough examination of what occurred. It will include determining whether our officers acted within policy, as well as whether our tactics, training or policies need to be changed. It will be an exhaustive review, and our results will be made public. We already made one very significant change in our use-of-force policy in October when we prohibited officers from shooting at moving vehicles. We will do our best to learn everything we can from this incident."
