Prosecutor: Police shooting that wounded Utah teen justified

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Two police officers were justified in shooting and critically wounding a teenage refugee from Somalia in a confrontation that sparked unrest and protests in Salt Lake City earlier this year, a Utah prosecutor decided Monday.

The Feb. 27 fight began after a failed drug deal and a dispute over $1.10 near the city's bustling homeless shelter, Gill said at a news conference.

The shooting became a flashpoint in the nation's discussion about police use of force against minorities, and public outcry persisted as authorities refused to release video from the officers' body cameras.

Gill said the public outcry over the shooting was a reason he took more than five months to decide whether it was justified and why he asked an expert on police use of force to review the investigation.

Officers spotted the attack, and police body camera footage recorded an officer telling the suspects to drop the metallic poles at least 10 times, Gill said.

Court records show he started getting in trouble with police at age 12 and spent time in juvenile detention centers for theft, trespassing and assault.