By the Associated Press
WETUMPKA, Ala. (AP) — Grand juries have cleared three Alabama police officers in a pair of unrelated shootings that killed two men in January.
The Montgomery Advertiser reports that a recent grand jury in Elmore County didn’t return charges against two sheriff’s deputies in the fatal shooting of 70-year-old Johnny Burney of Eclectic.
Authorities say officers saw Burney with a handgun after showing up at his home with a warrant following a report that he was selling marijuana. An autopsy report shows he was hit eight times by rifle slugs.
A grand jury also cleared a Millbrook police officer in the January death of 27-year-old Jae Wesley Hardy of Montgomery. A prosecutor says an officer shot Hardy only after Hardy shot himself in the head with a pistol.
Authorities didn’t release the officers’ names.
