BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A jury at a coroner's inquest determined Wednesday that a Montana police officer was justified in shooting and killing an unarmed man high on methamphetamine during a traffic stop. 
 
 Police video footage of the April 2014 shooting of Richard Ramirez by Billings Police Officer Grant Morrison, center in screen, is shown to a seven-person jury in Billings, Mont. on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2015.... (Associated Press) 
 
 Police video footage of the April 2014 shooting of Richard Ramirez by Billings Police Officer Grant Morrison is shown to a seven-person jury, not pictured, in Billings, Mont. on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2015.... (Associated Press) 
 
 Billings police officer Grant Morrison testifies during a coroner's inquest on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015 in Billings, Montana. Morrison testified about the events leading up to his shooting of unarmed man,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Billings Police Chief Rich St. John explains his department's use-of-force procedures on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015 during a coroner's inquest into the shooting death of an unarmed Montana man by a Montana... (Associated Press) 
 
 Julie Ramirez, left, consoles her mother, Betty Ramirez during a court inquest into the police shooting of Richard Ramirez in Billings, Mont. on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2015. The unarmed man killed by Billings... (Associated Press) 
 
 The ruling came after Billings Police Officer Grant Morrison testified he feared for his life when he fired the three shots that killed 38-year-old Richard Ramirez. 
 
 The five-year police veteran said he became convinced that Ramirez had a gun after the man reached for his waistband during their 30-second encounter last April in a high-crime area of Montana's most populous city. 
 
 "I knew in that moment, which later was determined to be untrue, but I knew in that moment that he was reaching for a gun," Morrison said. "I couldn't take that risk. ... I wanted to see my son grow up." 
 
 The seven-person jury deliberated about an hour before delivering its decision. 
 
 Yellowstone County Attorney Scott Twito said he does not expect to file any charges given the jury's decision. 
 
 Coroner's inquests are mandatory under Montana law whenever someone is killed by law enforcement or dies in custody. 
 
 The inquest was held as police killings of unarmed suspects in Ferguson, Missouri and New York City have heightened scrutiny of law enforcement nationwide. 
 
 Ramirez family members said they were disappointed by the ruling and intend to file a lawsuit against Morrison and the Billings Police Department alleging excessive use of force, said Julie Ramirez, a sister of Richard Ramirez. 
 
 Billings Police Chief Rich St. John said it was the fifth officer-involved shooting in his eight years as head of the department. Each shooting was ruled to be justified, he said. 
 
 "That tells us we're doing the right thing in the right way," St. John said. 
 
 Police video showed Morrison repeatedly ordered Ramirez and other occupants of the vehicle to raise their hands. Ramirez's actions were largely obscured in the video. But Morrison said Ramirez dropped his left hand to his side — out of the officer's view — and "started to jiggle it up and down" just before he was shot. 
 
 Morrison shot and killed another man in 2013. He was cleared of any wrongdoing in that case. 
 
 Ramirez's family wanted criminal charges against the officer and said Ramirez was a victim of racial profiling. 
 
 Another sister, Renee Ramirez, criticized the inquest as one-sided. She said testimony that her brother was a drug user was irrelevant. 
 
 All but three of the 15 people called to testify during the two-day inquest were from law enforcement. Several police officers spoke at length about their prior dealings with Ramirez and others in his family. 
 
 "I don't care what things my brother did in the past," Renee Ramirez said. "What does that have to do with shooting my brother?" 
 
 Billings Police Detective Brad Tucker, who investigated the case, testified Tuesday that Ramirez might have been trying to stash something when he was shot. A small amount of methamphetamine and a syringe were later found near Ramirez's seat. 
 
 An autopsy determined Ramirez had enough methamphetamine in his bloodstream at the time of the shooting to kill a person not accustomed to the drug, forensic pathologist Tom Bennett testified. 
 
 Twito defended the proceedings as a fair presentation of the facts. 
 
 "The videos speak for themselves," he said. 
 
 Morrison was placed on paid administrative leave immediately after the shooting and has since been assigned to a task force investigating prescription drug crimes, St. John said. ||||| A Montana police officer pulled over an unarmed man for a traffic stop and shot him. Officer Grant Morrison testified to a jury that he feared for his life because the man was high on methamphetamines and was worried he was reaching for a gun, so he fired. 
 
 Video viewed by the jury showed Morrison shouting at Richard Ramirez multiple times to put his hands up before he fired three times into the car, killing him. 
 
 The jury cleared him of wrongdoing, and this week also saw the release of dash cam video showing Morrison breaking down moments after he fatally shot Ramirez. In the video, you can hear him breathing heavily as colleagues try to calm him down. At one point, Morrison starts crying and says, “I thought he was gonna pull a gun on me.” 
 
 You can watch the video here, via the Billings Gazette: 
 
 And you can watch the dash cam video of the shooting incident in question (WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT): 
 
 [h/t Daily Dot] 
 
 [image via screengrab] 
 
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 Follow Josh Feldman on Twitter: @feldmaniac 
 
 Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com ||||| Montana police officer Grant Morrison killed unarmed 38-year-old Richard Ramirez in April last year, when Mr Ramirez – high on methamphetamine at the time – reached for his waistband. 
 
 In the video the police officer can be seen walking away from the scene of the incident towards a patrol car recently arrived at the scene. The car’s dashcam is still running, capturing the events. 
 
 As he reaches the vehicle, officer Morrison suddenly appears to collapse just off the screen prompting other officers nearby to run towards him. One can be heard urgently asking: “Are you hurt?” 
 
 He is comforted by his fellow officers, who tell him: “You’re ok, I got you,” but officer Morrison can be heard sobbing and breathing heavily. 
 
 In a shaking voice, officer Morrison can be heard to say: “I thought he was going to pull a gun,” before breaking down even further and placing his head into his hands and pounding the bonnet of the patrol car. 
 
 “I don’t know what’s going on,” he says as he tries to reassures the officers comforting him. 
 
 Eventually, he noticeably pulls himself together and leaves the view of the dashcam to return home. 
 
 During a coroner’s court testimony on Wednesday officer Morrison, an officer for five years, said: "I knew in that moment, which later was determined to be untrue, but I knew in that moment that he was reaching for a gun”. 
 
 "I couldn't take that risk...I wanted to see my son grow up." 
 
 In another video shown to the court, officer Morrison can be heard asking the suspect to raise his hands six times before he opens fire, shooting into the vehicle containing the suspect three times. 
 
 The video does not show the actions of Ramirez, who was sitting in the back of a car with two others in front, at the time of the shooting, the Mail Online reported. 
 
 Officer Morrison claims that he saw Ramirez drop his left hand to his side – out of the officer’s view – and then “jiggle it up and down”. 
 
 Detective Brett Kruger, who investigated the shooting, testified that two cellophane bags containing a small amount of methamphetamine and a syringe were later found near where Ramirez had been sitting. 
 
 He had two outstanding warrants at the time of the shooting. 
 
 The court later found that officer Morrison, who was cleared of all wrongdoing in another shooting in 2013, was justified in his actions. ||||| CLOSE Skip in Skip x Embed x Share Phyllis McDole, the mother of Jeremy McDole who was shot and killed by police officers on Wednesday afternoon, crashed Mayor Dennis P. Williams' press conference on the shooting at his office on Thursday afternoon. DANIEL SATO/THE NEWS JOURNAL 
 
 Jeremy McDole, 28, was shot and killed by Wilmington police at Tulip and Scott streets on Sept. 23. (Photo: .) 
 
 On Wednesday afternoon, Wilmington police received a 911 call about a man in a wheelchair with a self-inflicted wound. 
 
 A witness on the scene shot a cellphone video showing one officer pointing a shotgun or a rifle at the man in the wheelchair, screaming at him “drop the gun” and “hands up.” 
 
 The man in the wheelchair appears to be bleeding. Three more officers, with handguns drawn, appear on the scene and scream at him to drop the gun. 
 
 The man fidgets, moving his legs with his hands, rubbing his knees with both hands, trying to raise himself out of the wheelchair. 
 
 Then he slides his hand up his thigh toward his waist and officers open fire. Several shots ring out. For a moment, the man in the wheelchair freezes, then falls sideways onto the ground. Motionless. 
 
 No gun is visible in the video, which was posted on YouTube. 
 
 WARNING: Graphic video 
 
 On Thursday, a day after the shooting, Police Chief Bobby Cummings said Jeremy “Bam” McDole was armed and reaching for a weapon. 
 
 McDole’s family, at a gathering about an hour before the city’s press conference, disputed those findings and called for a federal investigation. McDole’s mother, Phyllis, said her son did not have a weapon and would never harm himself. 
 
 “This was murder,” she said. “He shot my son like he was roadkill.” 
 
 Cummings said officers responded to a 911 call at 3 p.m. Wednesday about a man with a self-inflicted gunshot wound who was armed in the 1800 block of Lancaster Avenue. 
 
 When officers arrived, he said, they located the man in the 1800 block of Tulip Street, where they repeatedly told him to put down his weapon and raise his arms. 
 
 McDole, 28, did not comply and reached for his waistband for a handgun, Cummings said. When McDole began to remove the gun, four officers opened fire. The chief said police found a .38 caliber gun at McDole’s side. 
 
 Cummings would not divulge the names or race of the officers involved in the shooting, or if any had any prior encounters with McDole. 
 
 The four officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave. 
 
 “I’m sorry for the officers and family of Mr. McDole, as this encounter unfortunately ended with the loss of his life,” said Cummings. “I know that this incident could impact police and community relations, therefore, I will ensure a thorough and transparent investigation will be conducted.” 
 
 The city police department has been working to improve relations with its residents in the past year. Officers get sensitivity training and recruits are taught about cultural diversity. 
 
 The state Justice Department’s Office of Civil Rights and Public Trust is investigating the shooting, said spokesman Carl Kanefsky, which is policy any time a police officer fires a weapon that injures or kills someone. 
 
 Local activist Keith James, who helped plan local rallies following acts of police brutality across the country, said for once, he’s standing on the side of police. 
 
 James, who is president of Voices 4 the Voiceless and a member of the Citizen Advisory Council for the Wilmington Police Department, believes the shooting was justified after watching cell phone video posted online and said officers were in a dangerous situation. 
 
 “From what I see, they handled it in a justified manner,” he said. “If he didn’t have a weapon, that would be a whole different story.” 
 
 Noting his history with activism, he said he would be the first person to criticize city police officers for doing something wrong, as he’s done in the past. But this time, he’s confident in the work of local law enforcement. 
 
 At a vigil for McDole Thursday night, mourners spelled out “RIP BAM” in tea lights in front of his mother’s home. Many came to pay their respects to the man they believe was unjustly killed. 
 
 About 30 relatives and friends also gathered at the scene of the shooting Thursday morning to mourn McDole. Most were angry at police for what they say was an unjustified use of force. A few placed flowers or candles nearby. 
 
 Relatives gathered later at McDole’s mother’s home on North Rodney Street where they disputed the police account. 
 
 “He wasn’t bothering anybody. He didn’t have a weapon or anything,” said Phyllis McDole. “He stood up and pulled his pants up and sat back down and put his hands on his lap and they opened fire on him.” 
 
 “They shot my son so much he fell out of the wheelchair,” she said breaking into tears. “He fell out the chair and on the ground. He wasn’t armed. He didn’t have a gun. He died by himself. He died alone.” 
 
 McDole, a skinny woman with a big voice and carefully tied braids around the crown of her head, said her son was a happy man who loved spending time with family, especially his nephew. 
 
 CLOSE Skip in Skip x Embed x Share Phyllis McDole describes seeing her son's death in a video on YouTube and Facebook after he was shot by police on Wednesday afternoon. JENNA PIZZI/THE NEWS JOURNAL 
 
 “I raised my son to be a good kid,” she said. “He wasn’t a troublemaker. Every day he came here at 12 o’clock and took his nephew to the store to get water ice. What am I supposed to tell his nephew tomorrow when he doesn’t come to take him to get a water ice?” 
 
 McDole added that she doesn’t have the financial means to bury her son and asked for anyone who might be able to help financially to reach out. 
 
 As Mayor Dennis P. Williams was explaining later at the city press conference that the family will be kept in the loop every step of the way, Phyllis McDole stood up from the crowd and demanded answers now. 
 
 She then went to the podium and Williams stepped aside. 
 
 “This was an injustice,” she said. 
 
 State NAACP President Richard Smith also spoke, calling for an independent investigation from outside officials. He said police officers can’t be investigating police officers in the same city. 
 
 Smith said his group arranged for McDole’s family to meet Thursday with civil rights attorneys from Delaware. At this point, the city and the state need closure, Smith said. 
 
 “We can’t treat poor folks the way we’ve been treating them,” he said. “They have a right to live. They have a right to breathe.” 
 
 McDole was paralyzed from the waist down after he was shot in the back about 10 years ago and was living at the Hillside Center nursing home on the 800 block of South Broom Street, according to McDole’s great uncle, Vincent Smith. 
 
 “We want justice for my brother,” Ashley Morrison-Wright, 23, of Wilmington, said Thursday. “This isn’t right.” 
 
 Her brother spent a lot of time with family members, especially his grandparents, who lived near his home in Wilmington, she said. 
 
 “He was a very, very sweet man,” Morrison-Wright said. His sister said McDole never owned a gun. 
 
 Neighborhood reaction 
 
 Buy Photo (Photo: WILLIAM BRETZGER/THE NEWS JOURNAL) 
 
 The shooting and video elicited strong reaction in the community and on social media. 
 
 “The mayor’s office and police department is aware of the video footage,” city spokeswoman Alexandra Coppadge said, “and will continue to conduct a thorough investigation of the officer-involved shooting.” 
 
 Anthony Slaughter is a friend and mentor to McDole who said he met with him just a few days before his death. 
 
 “It is very disturbing – the footage,” he said. “He wasn’t doing anything in a violent motion. If there was a gun, it would have fallen to the ground when he fell. There was no gun.” 
 
 Slaughter and others gathered Thursday morning said they don’t have faith that an investigation by the state will bring justice. 
 
 “In a situation like this, the police shouldn’t be investigating themselves,” Slaughter said. 
 
 Merrell Watson said he passed by McDole on the street shortly before the shooting. 
 
 “He wasn’t doing anything violent,” Watson said. “I honestly feel that officers abused their privilege. They are supposed to protect and serve, and they didn’t do that.” 
 
 Esteban Parra and Jessica Masulli Reyes contributed to this story. Contact robin brown at rbrown@delawareonline.com, Jenna Pizzi at jpizzi@delawareonline.com and Brittany Horn at bhorn@delawareonline.com. 
 
 WITNESSES SOUGHT 
 
 Officials of the state Department of Justice, investigating Wednesday’s fatal shooting involving Wilmington Police Department officers, said Thursday that they ask anyone with “direct information” about the incident to call Special Investigator Frank Robinson at (302) 577-8707. 
 
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– A Montana police officer who shot an unarmed man—and broke down crying afterward—was justified in pulling the trigger, a coroner's jury ruled this week. In a traffic stop last April, Billings police officer Grant Morrison pulled over a car with four people inside and repeatedly told them to raise their hands, the AP reports via Mediaite. When backseat passenger Richard Ramirez didn't raise them, Morrison warned he would shoot. Then he did. "I was getting very scared," Morrison told the jury, the Billings Gazette reports. "He shoved his hand down to his side and started jiggling it up and down." Methamphetamine and a syringe were later discovered near Ramirez's seat, and a toxicology test found a strong dose of meth in his system. Mediate has a police dashcam video of the shooting (WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT); another dashcam shows Morrison breaking down afterward. "I thought he was going to pull a gun," says a visibly distraught Morrison, the Independent reports. "I don’t know what’s going on." But Ramirez's mother Betty says she still doesn't see why Morrison shot her 38-year-old son. "He was just a good person, and they didn't have to do that to him," she tells the Gazette. "I'm going to fight it. ... I'm not going to give up." A family friend says they saw the hearing as one-sided. The ruling is only a recommendation, but the Yellowstone County Attorney’s Office says it likely won't seek charges. It wasn't Morrison's first such incident, either: In 2013, he fatally shot a man who ignored his orders and reached for what turned out to be a replica BB gun.