Six Months After the July 7 Ambush, the Investigation Is Still Pending

In many ways the Dallas Police Department is stronger six months after the July 7 ambush that left five officers dead, but there are still unanswered questions as detectives pick away at the investigation into the attack. Messages of love and support have poured in from around the world. Officers feel passion for policing again. Donors raised $10 million for the families of the dead and wounded officers. Those officers were protecting demonstrators protesting police shootings of black men around the country when Micah Johnson opened fire around 9 p.m. July 7 on Main Street near Lamar Street. In the initial chaos, police believed there was more than one shooter. Several hours later, former Dallas Police Chief David Brown ordered officers to use a remote-controlled robot armed with explosives to kill Johnson, who was holed up in El Centro College. Investigators quickly determined Johnson was the only shooter. They sorted through bullet casings spread across a massive downtown crime scene. They reviewed dash-cam and surveillance video and 170 hours of body-cam footage. They interviewed the 11 officers who fired their weapons that night and the two officers who used the explosive device that killed Johnson. And that investigation is still ongoing. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is still processing evidence. When that's finished, Dallas police detectives will review it before sending the case to the Dallas County District Attorney's Office. A grand jury will hear the case and determine whether criminal charges are necessary against the officers who fired their weapons and deployed the robot on July 7. It's a routine procedure in all shootings involving police and no grand jury is likely to see any problem with the police response.   Continue reading...