2 Officers Cleared in Univ. of Missouri Shooting
The incident involved a University of Missouri police officer and Columbia police officer, and was recorded by the MU officer’s body-worn camera.
Campus Safety Conference TEXAS - Irving, TX | June 12 - 13, 2017 EAST - Philadelphia, PA | July 13 - 14, 2017 WEST- Long Beach, CA | July 31 - August 1, 2017 Body-Worn Cameras in the News Cleveland Police to Test Body Cameras on Off-duty Details Report: Police Killings of Unarmed Black Men Dropped in 2016 NMSU Officer Cleared in Campus Shooting of Student NYPD to Install Surveillance Cameras in Police Vans More on Body-Worn Cameras Public Safety Downloads Active Shooter Threat Assessment Checklist Do you have a Threat Assessment Checklist? If not, you'll want to download this FREE Active Shooter Checklist now! More Public Safety Downloads By Robin Hattersley Gray · August 6, 2015 Cole County Special Prosecutor Douglas Abele has determined that two police officers should not be charged for fatally shooting a man at a campus parking garage this spring. The incident occurred April 15 and involved University of Missouri (MU) Police Department Officer Zachary Chinea and Columbia Police Department Officer Timothy Giger. The suspect, Mark Adair, had just been released from prison after serving time for rape. Earlier that day, he
Cole County Special Prosecutor Douglas Abele has determined that two police officers should not be charged for fatally shooting a man at a campus parking garage this spring.
The incident occurred April 15 and involved University of Missouri (MU) Police Department Officer Zachary Chinea and Columbia Police Department Officer Timothy Giger. The suspect, Mark Adair, had just been released from prison after serving time for rape. Earlier that day, he had allegedly attempted a robbery and sexual assault.
Chinea knew of these allegations and learned that Adair might be at MU’s Hitt St. garage. When Chinea arrived at the garage, he witnessed the suspect talking with three females who were trying to get into their vehicle.
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“He [Chinea] then exited his vehicle and took a few steps toward the front of his vehicle telling Adair that he needed to speak with him,” the report says. “Before Officer Chinea completed his sentence, Adair had moved quickly around the front of the patrol car and approached Chinea while drawing what appeared to be a large caliber handgun from his right front pants pocket and pointing it directly at Chinea.”
A struggle then ensued between the two, with the suspect trying to take Chinea’s duty weapon and OC spray. Shots were fired.
While this was happening, Giger and his partner, officer Neal Sedgwick, who were both undercover officers, had reached the scene and observed Adair to be on top of Chinea. Believing Chinea was in danger, Giger shot Adair in the back.
Despite this, Adair continued fighting. Giger then shot Adair again in the left eye. After that, Chinea was able to push the suspect off of him and fired more shots into Adair’s chest and abdomen.
During the struggle, Chinea was shot in the hand. Adair was killed.
The entire incident was captured on the video camera worn by Chinea. (Warning: video contains graphic content and may not be suitable for all audiences.)
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About the Author
Robin Hattersley, Editor-in-Chief
Robin has been covering the security and campus law enforcement industries since 1998 and is a specialist in school, university and hospital security, public safety and emergency management, as well as emerging technologies and systems integration. She joined CS in 2005 and has authored award-winning editorial on campus law enforcement and security funding, officer recruitment and retention, access control, IP video, network integration, event management, crime trends, the Clery Act, Title IX compliance, sexual assault, dating abuse, emergency communications, incident management software and more. Robin has been featured on national and local media outlets and was formerly associate editor for the trade publication Security Sales & Integration. She obtained her undergraduate degree in history from California State University, Long Beach.
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