UPDATE 8:30 p.m.: The Austin Police Association, the union representing APD officers, issued this statement on Facebook tonight:
EARLIER: The Austin Police officer who fatally shot a teenager in North Austin in February will not be indicted by a grand jury, says the Travis County District Attorney's office. Freeman shot and killed 17-year-old David Joseph after the teenager reportedly charged at the officer.
Freeman was responding to reports that Joseph, who was naked and unarmed, was behaving erratically. The officer was terminated from APD in March by Chief Art Acevedo for violating the department's deadly use-of-force policy.
"We do not believe his use of deadly force was justified in this case," Acevedo said at the time of the officer's termination. "We don't believe they were consistent of the standards, the training of the Austin Police Department."
Acevedo's decision was appealed by the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas (CLEAT), the state's largest law enforcement association.
The DA's office says the grand jury met five times and heard testimony from 12 witnesses, including "Freeman, members of David Joseph's family, an APD training officer and a nationally known expert in police use of force."
The incident on Feb. 8 was only partially captured by former Officer Freeman's dashboard camera; the shooting took place out of frame.
You can read the full letter from the District Attorney's office below.
