FERGUSON, Mo. — The white police officer who killed Michael Brown has resigned from the Ferguson Police Department, his attorney said Saturday, nearly four months after the fatal confrontation with the black 18-year-old that fueled protests in the St. Louis suburb and across the nation.
FERGUSON, Mo. — The white police officer who killed Michael Brown has resigned from the Ferguson Police Department, his attorney said Saturday, nearly four months after the fatal confrontation with the black 18-year-old that fueled protests in the St. Louis suburb and across the nation.
Darren Wilson, 28, has been on administrative leave since the shooting on Aug. 9. His resignation was announced Saturday by one of his attorneys, Neil Bruntrager. The resignation is effective immediately, Bruntrager said. He declined further immediate comment.
The attorney for the Brown family, Benjamin Crump, did not immediately return phone and email messages from The Associated Press seeking comment.
A grand jury spent more than three months reviewing evidence in the case before declining in November to issue any charges against Wilson. He told jurors he feared for his life when Brown hit him and reached for his gun.
The U.S. Justice Department is still conducting a civil rights investigation into the shooting and a separate probe of police department practices.
The news of Wilson’s resignation didn’t seem to appease a small group of protesters who stood outside of the Ferguson police department on Saturday night.
Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson didn’t immediately return a message left on his cellphone seeking comment.
Wilson began his career in nearby Jennings before moving to the Ferguson job a few years ago. He had no previous complaints against him and a good career record, according to Jackson, who called Wilson “an excellent police officer.”