"No Crime Committed" in Officer Involved Shooting
By: Amanda Ashley
Updated: April 9, 2012
Washington County Prosecutor John Threet finds "no crime was committed" in the shooting death of Joshua Thomas by Detective Lewis Scott McAfee.
Threet says they have finished a review of the Arkansas State Police independent investigation into this shooting and no crime was committed.
The shooting happened in March, when
investigators went to Thomas' house to arrest him on a rape charge, and deputies
say he resisted.
Threet agreed with reports that say McAfee acted within the law and county
policy during the arrest, and was justified in using lethal force when Thomas
used a crowbar as a deadly weapon against the detective.
This marks the sixth shooting of McAfee's career, at least four of
those have been fatal. Prior to the Arkansas State Police investigation, Washington County Sheriff's Office also conducted an internal investigation of the shooting and found no wrongdoing by McAfee.
"Each one was scrutinized, each one was
investigated and he was cleared of those events. Can we explain why things
happen to certain people, I don't think we can," Sheriff Tim Helder told us.
McAfee has returned to work and resumed his full duties as a detective.
