Two Secret Service agents who fatally shot a man outside the residence of the Peruvian ambassador will not face criminal charges.
According to the US Attorney’s Office, there was not sufficient evidence of excessive use of force to pursue the case in criminal court, The Hill reported.
The shooting took place in April when USSS agents responded to a report of an ongoing burglary at the residence of Peruvian ambassador Oswaldo de Rivero in northwestern Washington DC. Officers found a man, later identified as Gordon Casey, 19, in the backyard of the residence.
Casey reportedly refused to drop a long metal pole he had been holding when agents confronted him and he was eventually shot, the Metropolitan Police Department said at the time. Casey had broken the windows to gain access inside the home, MPD also said.
An investigation by the Department of Justice determined that Casey did not follow the officers’ orders and that he had previously been shot with a stun gun in an attempt to de-escalate the situation. He then approached USSS agents with the pole in hand before he was shot, the DoJ found.
After the 20 April altercation, paramedics were called but Casey was pronounced dead at the scene. Mr Rivero and his family were not injured during the attack.
Casey’s mother, Ilmiya Yarullina, told The Washington Post in June that his son had been struggling with his mental health for years.
Ms Yarullina said her son was also dependent on drugs, and that she had asked him to move out of his home in the days preceding his death.
The US Attorney’s Office found that it could not be proved beyond reasonable doubt that the agents had deliberately used excessive force.
