ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) - No charges will be filed against a Maryland police officer in the shooting death of a man who ran at him while holding a knife, a state’s attorney said Friday.
Montgomery County Police Sgt. David Cohen had legal justification for the shooting of Finan Berhe on May 7 in Montgomery’s White Oak area, news outlets reported Friday. Video from Cohen’s body-worn camera showed that before Berhe charged him, Cohen ordered him to drop the knife and get on the ground.
“The threat caused by Finan Berhe running directly at Sgt. Cohen with a large kitchen knife, as well as Berhe’s nonresponsive actions to Cohen’s demands to put the knife down, justified the use of deadly force,” Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy wrote in a report.
After the Berhe shooting, the Silver Spring Justice Coalition called for changes to the county’s use of force and de-escalation tactics. However, Howard County prosecutors said Cohen was faced with an uncooperative and aggressive subject from the time he arrived.
Berhe charged Cohen with the knife and Cohen fired five shots. It’s not until the fifth shot that Berhe falls to the ground and drops the knife, prosecutors found.
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