The Jefferson County, TX, grand jury has cleared a Beaumont Police officer who shot and killed a man armed with a knife at Parkdale Mall.
District Attorney Tom Maness says the grand jury met Thursday morning and no billed Sgt. Al Johnson, 61, in the December 29 shooting. The panel determined there was no criminal wrongdoing on the part of Sgt. Johnson, according to Maness.
Bernardo Martinez, 63, of Nederland, was killed.
Witnesses called police and told officers Martinez was acting erratically inside the mall.
When police arrived they saw Martinez with a knife outside Sears. According to police investigators, he approached a crowd of onlookers with the knife. When Martinez refused to put down the knife and came at Sgt. Johnson, the officer shot Martinez, who died at a hospital.
Authorities hadn't released Sgt. Johnson's name until the D.A.'s office did so after Thursday's grand jury decision.
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