The Latest: Mayor “relieved” about police shooting report

HOOVER, Ala. (AP) — The Latest on the police shooting of a black man in an Alabama shopping mall (all times local):

11:15 a.m.

An Alabama mayor says officials are relieved over a state report that cleared a police officer of wrongdoing in the fatal shooting of a black man in a busy shopping mall.

Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato discussed the state review at a news conference Wednesday.

Brocato expressed sympathy for relatives of Emantic “EJ” Bradford Jr., who was armed when an officer mistook him for the gunman in a shooting in a mall on Thanksgiving.

But the mayor says the shooting also caused anxiety for the whole city, and he’s relieved the investigation is over.

Brocato says the city will pay for the legal defense for the officer in any civil lawsuit stemming from the shooting.

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8 a.m.

An Alabama city is responding to the state’s decision against prosecuting a police officer who mistakenly killed a black man in a shopping mall on Thanksgiving.

Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato and others have scheduled a news conference for Wednesday morning about the slaying of Emantic “EJ” Bradford Jr.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office announced Tuesday that a police officer won’t be prosecuted for fatally shooting Bradford at a mall in Hoover as Black Friday shopping began.

The officer mistakenly shot Bradford after seeing him running with a gun following a shooting. The review showed that Bradford didn’t shoot his gun.

Demonstrators burned U.S. flags outside Hoover City Hall after the state’s decision against charges. Activists say they’ll protest at the attorney general’s office in Montgomery on Wednesday.