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Police Shooting Justified, Says Delaware AG

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DOVER, Del. (AP) - The Delaware attorney general's office says the use of deadly force last year by Dover police officer responding to a report of a man armed with a gun was arguably justified.

Authorities said in a report dated Tuesday that the state could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer Ryan Schmid committed a crime in shooting Terrance Fletcher last August.

Fletcher was shot in the leg by Schmid while running from another law enforcement officer after police were tipped that a person in a neighborhood near downtown Dover had a gun.

Fletcher, who was wanted in West Virginia at the time, initially denied having a gun, but officers found a .38 caliber revolver near where he fell.

Fletcher later pleaded guilty to carrying a concealed deadly weapon.

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Don Rush is the News Director and Senior Producer of News and Public Affairs at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.