John Crawford III

John Crawford III, 22, was shot and killed by Beavercreek police while holding an unloaded BB/pellet rifle sold inside a Walmart in August 2014.

What happened

John Crawford III picked up an air rifle from a Walmart shelf in Beavercreek, Ohio on August 5, 2014 while shopping and talking on his phone. A caller to 911 described a man waving a gun, but the store's surveillance video raised serious questions about that characterization. Officer Sean Williams and another officer arrived and confronted Crawford; Williams shot him within moments. The item Crawford held was a BB/pellet rifle that the store sold and that had been removed from its packaging. Crawford's family and civil-rights advocates questioned the caller's claims, the speed with which police fired, and why a shopper doing nothing criminal was killed.

Investigation & findings

A local grand jury declined indictments, and federal prosecutors announced in 2017 that the criminal civil-rights standard could not be met. The city and family later reached a reported $1.7 million civil settlement. The unindicted status should not obscure the surveillance footage.

What happened

Investigation & findings

Sources & records