Grand jury declines charges against Amarillo officers in Faith City Mission shooting
The top prosecutor in Potter County announced Wednesday that a grand jury declined to indict three police officers involved in the accidental shooting of a man who disarmed a hostage-taker at Faith City Mission.
The man, who was identified by his attorney as Tony Garces, was mistaken by police as the suspect during the Feb. 14 shooting, Amarillo Police Department said. Garces, 54, survived the shooting.
“The grand jury has found that they have done nothing wrong criminally, and therefore they will be returning to service at some point,” 47th District Attorney Randall Sims said at a news conference.
Garces’ attorney, Jeff Blackburn, said the grand jury was a “joke.”
“This is not a complicated case,” he said by phone. “The police shot the wrong guy. They made a mistake. Period. As usual, the City of Amarillo cannot ever admit that it made a mistake.”
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Blackburn said Garces, who was shot twice, was treated for a collapsed lung and a pulmonary embolism.
“Fortunately, the Amarillo Police Department officers aren’t very good shots or they would’ve killed him,” Blackburn said.
Read more: http://amarillo.com/local-news/news/2018-03-07/grand-jury-declines-charges-against-amarillo-officers-faith-city-mission