What’s next for Brown’s killer?
Officer Wilson won’t face charges in controversial fatal shooting of black teen
Darren Wilson will be unable to return to work as a police officer here after avoiding charges for fatally shooting Michael Brown, and is negotiating a payout in return for his departure, according to a source familiar with Wilson’s situation.
Wilson, 28, has been hiding with his girlfriend in an undisclosed location since shortly before he was identified as the officer who killed Brown. The shooting, on 9 August, followed an altercation after the officer stopped the unarmed 18- yearold and a friend for jaywalking on a residential side street.
Rumours about Wilson’s status have swirled among protesters in Ferguson, many of whom are furious that he remains on his full $ 45,300 ( Dh210,000) salary after being placed on administrative leave by police chiefs. Speculation has included a possible false surname and style of facial hair being used by the officer, along with a supposed sighting at a sporting fixture in the St Louis region.
But the source said Wilson would not return to patrolling the streets of Ferguson, a St Louis suburb of about 21,000 people, through which the officer was driving his Chevy Tahoe around noon on the Saturday when he encountered Brown on Canfield Drive.
“He’s not going back to work in Ferguson – he’d get killed in a heartbeat,” said the source, who was not authorised to speak publicly about confidential negotiations. “I’m not sure he will ever be in police work again, and I’m not even sure that he should hang around in St Louis. He may just basically have to move on with his life somewhere else.”
CNN first reported this month that Wilson was in the final stages of negotiating his resignation from Ferguson. The person familiar with Wilson’s situation spoke to the Guardian before that report was published.
Attorneys for Wilson did not respond to requests for comment. But Jeff Roorda, a Missouri state representative and the business manager for the St Louis Police Officers Association, acknowledged that “the question of whether he can do his job safely” given the outrage caused by the shooting looms large in considerations over Wilson’s future.