A St. Louis grand jury has announced on Monday that Ferguson police officer Darren Brown will be facing no charges for fatally shooting African-American teen Michael Brown.
The decision was announced on Monday night, and according to St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch, there was "no probable cause" to file charges against the 28-year old officer, Reuters reported.
The decision has been a long time coming and had fueled massive mass demonstrations in Ferguson, Missouri, some of which had turn into violent protests.
During the announcement of the decision, McCulloch told those in the courtroom that the jury carefully weighed the evidence, eyewitness accounts, and testimonies before handing out the verdict, according to USA Today.
"The duty of the grand jury is to separate fact from fiction,'' McCulloch said.
For the officer to be indicted, at least nine of the 12 members of the jury had to agree to charge Wilson. The exact number of jurors who voted against the indictment has yet to be revealed.
Had he been indicted, Wilson would have faced first or second degree murder charges, in addition to voluntary or involuntary manslaughter.
However, according to Brown's family lawyer Benjamin Crump, "the jury was not inclined to indict on any charges," telling Brown's mother, Lesley McSpadden, that McCulloch is willing to meet with the family.
Upon hearing the news, McSpadden reportedly began shaking and ran out of her hotel room while crying and shouting.
Later on, the family released a statement expressing their "profound disappointment" over the jury's decision.
"While we understand that many others share our pain, we ask that you channel your frustration in ways that will make a positive change. We need to work together to fix the system that allowed this to happen," the statement said, according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, before the verdict was handed out, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon encouraged the police and demonstrators to be calmed and restrained, saying that whatever the decision may be, he hopes "people on all sides show tolerance, mutual respect and restrain."
The jury's decision came about two months after the jury convened whether or not to file criminal charges against Wilson.
The Ferguson cop shot Brown dead on August 9, in an incident that had conflicting accounts from eyewitnesses.
Some said the 18-year-old was surrendering to Wilson when he was shot, while others said Brown was involved in an altercation and was charging at the police officer.
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