SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - The Latest on a fatal police shooting in the Indiana city where Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg is mayor (all times local):
1:45 p.m.
A judge has appointed a special prosecutor to investigate a white police officer’s fatal shooting of a black man in the Indiana city where Pete Buttigieg (BOO’-tuh-juhj) is mayor.
A St. Joseph County judge appointed Richard Hertel from southeastern Indiana’s Ripley County as the special prosecutor to oversee the investigation into the June 16 shooting of 54-year-old Eric Logan and determine if criminal charges are warranted.
The South Bend Tribune reports that St. Joseph County’s prosecutor had sought the special prosecutor. Buttigieg had said he wanted an independent investigator appointed in the case.
Logan’s fatal shooting prompted Buttigieg, who’s seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, to leave the campaign trail for several days to answer questions about public safety and race.
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1:15 p.m.
South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg (BOO’-tuh-juhj) says in a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice that a white police officer’s recent fatal shooting of a black man has “touched off a painful discussion” in the city.
The Democratic presidential candidate said Monday he had written the federal agency in response to the June 16 police shooting of Eric Logan .
The Indianapolis Star obtained a copy of Buttigieg’s letter to the agency where he writes that as mayor he considers it “imperative that there be absolutely no racism in our city’s Police Department.”
The Star reports that the letter stops short of requesting a federal investigation, but says Buttigieg would “welcome the opportunity to learn more about the ways the U.S. Department of Justice could assist our community.”
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12:32 p.m.
A white police officer who fatally shot a black man in the Indiana city where Pete Buttigieg (BOO’-tuh-juhj) is mayor says he and his family never expected to be “thrown into the middle of a Presidential campaign.”
South Bend Sgt. Ryan O’Neill remains on paid administrative leave following the fatal shooting of 54-year-old Eric Logan . Police have said Logan was armed with a knife when O’Neill shot him as he approached the officer.
The June 16 shooting prompted Buttigieg, who’s seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, to leave the campaign trail for several days to answer questions about public safety and race .
In a statement tweeted Wednesday by South Bend’s police union, O’Neill says that “Being thrown into the middle of a Presidential campaign was something we never anticipated.”
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