An officer-involved shooting in Paradise has sparked local and national interest and outrage.
About 150 gathered in Paradise Saturday to protest a ruling by Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey, in which he found Officer Patrick Feaster was negligent, but not criminally so, in the November shooting of 26-year-old Andrew Thomas. The video has been made public, and that’s given new life to the story.
Some background:
Thomas crashed his SUV after being chased by Feaster. The crash killed 23-year-old Darien Ehorn, Thomas’ wife. Officer Feaster approached the vehicle, now on its side, and drew his gun. As Thomas tried to exit the vehicle, Feaster fired, striking Thomas in the neck. He could face paralysis.
Thomas had a blood alcohol level of 0.15 at the time. He's now looking at charges of vehicular manslaughter.
Criticism has centered on the fact that no call of “shots fired” came out, and that Feaster did not immediately tell emergency personnel on the scene that the man in the SUV had suffered a bullet wound.
A petition to fire Officer Feaster has been circling around social media. It now has more than 1900 online signatures.
The story’s been picked up by a number of national gossip news outlets, including Gawker and the New York Daily News. It’s also been reported by NPR and the Huffington Post.
Feaster is on paid administrative leave, pending an internal affairs investigation. He will not face criminal charges, but pending the results of this investigation could face discipline up to and including termination.