No Charges For Cops In Ozone Park Shooting Death Of Maryland Man
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The cops who shot and killed a Maryland man in Queens this spring will not be charged.
The five officers -- four of whom fired shots -- were acting in self defense, the Queens D.A. said.
Queens D.A. Richard Brown released a 71 page report which says that all of the evidence shows that George Tillman had a gun and threatened cops with it on April 17, in Ozone Park.
The chaos erupted when plainclothes police officers approached 32-year-old Tillman standing outside a double-parked SUV, with a gun in his waistband, police said. Tillman fled on foot, and after officers gave him commands, police said Tillman reached for his gun. That's when the cops opened fire. A 40-caliber firearm was recovered at the scene, police say.
As 1010 WINS' Sonia Rincon reported, an attorney for Tillman's family said they are not convinced.
"We certainly cooperated their investigation, but it's I think natural to expect the D.A. their credibility determination is going to fall on the side of law enforcement," Jeffrey Lichtman said.
Lichtman said the family will go ahead with a lawsuit asking why a relative of Tillman, who was with him at the time, was taken into custody for 12 hours but not charged.
"There's really no other conclusion to draw other than the fact that they were desperately trying to cover something up," he said.
