ABC News is reporting that Officer Yanez will be prosecuted for the fatal shooting of Philando Castilo:
A Minnesota prosecutor says the police officer who shot and killed a black motorist in suburban St. Paul in July had no good reason to use deadly force.
Ramsey County Attorney John Choi announced Wednesday that he is filing second-degree manslaughter charges against St. Anthony police officer Jeronimo Yanez.
From a City of Falcon Heights e-mail:
The City of Falcon Heights respects the decision of the County Attorney to pursue criminal prosecution of Officer Yanez based on findings from the State’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
We have heard concerns since the shooting of Mr. Castile from residents and non-residents about issues involving current law enforcement procedures in our community and we will continue to work diligently to review and address those concerns.
We have and will continue to have frank discussions with leaders from the City of St. Anthony Village about those procedures, and work with the City to develop a plan to address them.
Along with the cities of St. Anthony Village and Lauderdale, Falcon Heights will continue to be a part of the tri-city workgroup to review the use of officer worn body cameras. Falcon Heights has also established an Inclusion and Policing Task Force. The Task Force will address the topics of police policies, procedures, and training.
Our goals are to unify our community around a plan to address the concerns we have heard since this tragic incident, and to work to restore trust between law enforcement officers, and the residents and city visitors whom they serve.
I have not attended the informational meetings Falcon Heights has hosted on the matter, so I don’t know how much has come out on the procedures to follow when a motorist declares they have a legally permitted weapon in the car.
