The police officer who shot and killed a man during an altercation in Independence, Kentucky last month will not face criminal charges, according to the Kenton County Commonwealth's Attorney's Office.
After reviewing evidence from a use of force investigation by the Kentucky State Police, Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders said he found "no probable cause" to file charges against Sgt. Michael Brock, an 11-year veteran of the Independence Police Department.
Jonathan Craig Thompson, 29, of Covington, was shot and killed on June 1 at a vacant residence at the 800 block of Ridgepoint Drive in the seemingly quiet and well-maintained subdivision of Lakefield.
Officers responded around 7:30 a.m. after a woman called 911 to report a person was breaking into an abandoned house through the garage.
Sanders previously told The Enquirer that officers from Independence and Kenton County Police Department confronted an armed suspect inside. He said one officer fired at the man and fatally wounded him
Body cam footage from the officers involved shows Thompson brandished a handgun "in defiance of commands given by multiple officers," Sanders wrote in a correspondence on Thursday.
"... It is clear Mr. Thompson was armed with a handgun and could have fired at any moment," Sanders wrote, adding that Thompson was "an imminent threat to Sgt. Brock and the other officers."
Sanders wrote that a shell casing recovered from the scene matched the ammunition in Thompson's handgun – indicating he had fired his weapon at some point during the incident, though it's not clear when that was.
A police report provided by KSP indicates Thompson's hands were tested for gunshot residue.
"It is obvious Sgt. Brock was justifiably in fear of death or serious physical injury at the time he used deadly force against Mr. Thompson," Sanders wrote.
Though investigators are still awaiting the release of an autopsy report and test results, Sanders said the outstanding information will not change the outcome of the investigation.
Thompson's death was the third fatal police shooting in Northern Kentucky since 2015 and the second this year.
Since then, a man died from injuries sustained during a SWAT confrontation in Covington. And on Wednesday a man was killed in Florence following a standoff with U.S. Marshals who were there to arrest him.
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