A police officer who was not charged in the shooting death of an unarmed South Carolina teenager is being fired from the force more than a year after the incident.
The family of Zachary Hammond, who was 19 when he was shot and killed by Lieutenant Mark Tiller in July 2015, said they had “never lost hope” of such an outcome.
Seneca police chief John Covington said in a short statement that Tiller was being terminated and would stay on the payroll until Friday. He refused to give a reason, calling it a personnel matter.
A state prosecutor did not press charges against Tiller for the killing of Hammond, saying while Tiller might have made a bad decision in heading toward Hammond’s moving car, the officer had less than three seconds to react and broke no law.
Hammond was killed while driving away from a drug sting operation. A dashboard recording showed that the teen was shot from the side as he passed the officer.
The FBI and US justice department are still investigating the case.
Hammond’s family, who in March reached a $2.15m settlement with the city of Seneca, released a statement saying they were glad Tiller would no longer be a police officer.
“After Zachary’s death, the Hammonds placed their faith in the justice system and were hoping that Lieutenant Tiller was going to have to answer for his actions and the decisions he made which resulted in such a senseless death,” the statement said.
“With each passing day the Hammonds never lost hope that Lieutenant Tiller would in the future never again have the highest honor of serving the public as a police officer, wear the uniform and carry a weapon. It appears that today is such a day.”
