LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — A white Little Rock police officer who fatally shot a black man in February has been fired, a department spokesman said Monday.
Officer Charles Starks killed Bradley Blackshire during a traffic stop Feb. 22. Prosecutors announced last month that Starks had been cleared of criminal wrongdoing. He was fired Monday after an internal investigation of the killing.
Robert Newcomb, an attorney for Starks, said he plans to appeal the firing.
Blackshire was driving a vehicle that had been reported stolen when Starks pulled him over at West 12th Street and Rodney Parham Road. Police said the vehicle was stopped when Blackshire, 30, accelerated and hit Starks. Starks then opened fire.
The killing led to protests at City Hall and the Arkansas State Capitol. One of the protests led police to temporarily close the Broadway Bridge.
Protesters and an attorney for Blackshire’s family accused of Starks of using excessive force.
Starks was relieved of duty while police investigated the shooting. He was still employed by the department but was stripped of his weapon and credentials.
A letter of termination from Police Chief Keith Humphrey to Starks says that Starks violated the department’s use-of-force policy. The policy prohibits officers from moving in front of an oncoming vehicle when deadly force is the probable outcome.
“When confronted by an oncoming vehicle, officers will move out of its path, if possible, rather than fire at the vehicle,” the policy says.
Humphrey decided to fire Starks against the recommendation of four supervisors who reviewed the incident. Sergeant Harold Scratch, Lt. Dana Jackson, Capt. Heath Helton and Assistant Chief Hayward Finks believed that Starks should have been exonerated, according to a letter Finks sent to Humphrey.
“I do not believe that Officer Starks intentionally nor voluntarily stepped in front of the vehicle driven by Mr. Blackshire,” the letter says.
The Little Rock Fraternal Order of Police said in statement that it “strongly disagrees” with the decision to fire Starks. The group echoed Starks’ supervisors, saying that he did not intentionally place himself in front of Blackshire’s vehicle.
“Officers are required to make split second decisions and today’s decision has the potential to make officers hesitate in their actions, which could prove detrimental to the citizens of Little Rock and the officers themselves,” the group said.
Omavi Shukur, an attorney for the Blackshire family, said in a statement that they support the decision to fire Starks. He said they hope the city will “take further steps towards making amends for this avoidable, devastating tragedy.”
