‘No criminal conduct’ by Gulfport officer who shot GA man in his car, grand jury says.
The Gulfport Police Department on Monday issued a press release announcing the grand jury ruling, but did not say what the grand jury had decided. They also referred all questions to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, which is in charge of all shootings involving law enforcement officers.
Parker was a father of six, an Army veteran and an employee at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Nicolette Ward, an attorney at the Chicago firm Romanucci & Blandin, LLC representing Parker’s family, criticized the grand jury’s decision in a statement to the Sun Herald.
“As an attorney, I am terribly disappointed by this decision, as we believe the facts in this case support an indictment and the criminal courts could and should provide an avenue for justice for the killing of Black citizens by police,” Ward said. “Leonard Parker’s family, including his wife and children, deserve full accountability for his unjustified death.”
