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Officer Geoffrey
Freeman was permanently suspended in March, a procedural step
for firing, after he was found to have violated department
policy by shooting black 17-year-old David Joseph a few seconds
after confronting him.
Freeman, who also is African American and has worked as an
Austin police officer for 10 years, appealed the suspension.
The case drew scrutiny as questions of racial bias in U.S.
policing have been raised after the fatal shootings of several
unarmed African-American men by police in recent months.
The grand jury met on five separate days and heard testimony
from 12 witnesses, including Freeman and members of Joseph's
family, before reaching its decision, the Travis County District
Attorney's office said in a statement.
It said Freeman stopped his patrol car about 100 feet from
Joseph and drew his gun. Joseph ran toward he officer, who
ordered him to stop and Freeman fired two shots when he did not,
the district attorney's office said, adding both shots hit
Joseph.
Jeff Edwards, the attorney for the Joseph family, said the
decision not to indict marked a sad day for justice.
"Failing to secure an indictment when a police officer shoots
and kills an unarmed, skinny, naked teenager, who the officer
outweighed by over 100 pounds, is a failure of will by the
district attorney, and calls in to question the entire grand
jury process in cases involving police misconduct," Edwards said
in a statement.
An autopsy found that Joseph had two prescription drugs and
marijuana in his system at the time he was shot, local TV
station KVUE reported.
A police group backing the officer said there was a rush to
judgment in the case by Austin Police Department leaders and
applauded the decision not to indict.
(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
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