The governing board of a small town in the Mississippi Delta has voted to reinstate a police officer who was suspended after he shot an 11-year-old Black boy who had called police to his home earlier this year to help resolve a domestic dispute involving his mother.
During a special session, the city of Indianola Board of Aldermen voted 4-1 to clear the way for Sgt. Greg Capers, who is Black, to return to duty more than seven months after he claims he accidentally fired his service weapon when he seriously wounded Aderrien Murry in the chest.
Three members of the Board of Aldermen are Black, and two are white, while Indianola Mayor Ken Featherstone is also Black.
Immediately after the May 20 shooting, Capers was placed on paid administrative leave, but a month later, the board voted 4-1 to suspend Capers without pay, pending the outcome of an internal affairs probe and a grand jury investigation, which ended last week with no criminal charges against Capers.
The Dec. 21 reinstatement became effective immediately, according to attorney Michael Carr, who represented Capers during the inquiry on behalf of the Mississippi division of the Police Benevolent Association.
“Capers is glad for the reinstatement and ready to get back to work,” Carr told CNN the day after the vote, adding that Capers would remain a sergeant once he was back on the job.
The board also voted to prohibit the release of police bodycam footage of the incident, leading to criticism over the board’s lack of transparency in the majority-Black Southern town.
Previously, Murry family attorney Carlos Moore said he filed a motion to reverse the board’s decision to suppress the videos.
According to Moore, Capers is also responsible for another instance of misconduct involving an incident in December 2022 in which Capers allegedly used a Taser on a handcuffed suspect.
Meanwhile, Aderrien and his family attended the meeting, and as the board voted to…
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