Officer cleared in Columbia shooting

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A special prosecutor has cleared a Columbia Police Department officer of wrongdoing in the shooting of a suspect in 2018.

Callaway County Prosecuting Attorney Chris Wilson wrote in a letter to CPD Chief Geoff Jones that the officer who shot at Cortez Brimmage did not break the law. Circuit Judge Kevin Crane appointed Wilson as a special prosecutor to review the shooting.

Wilson wrote in his letter that it wasn't clear whether the officer was the person who shot Brimmage in the leg, but that he suspects that is the case. The officer who fired was not wearing a body camera.

Columbia police were called to the shooting in the 1500 block of Tupelo Place on May 5, 2018. Wilson says in his letter that evidence backs up the officer's claim that Brimmage pointed a handgun at him when the officer arrived at the scene. The officer fired at Brimmage, who was struck in the leg.

"Whether Officer A.B. actually struck Brimmage is not entirely clear as there appears to have been gunfire between Brimmage and the other individuals immediately before police officers responded," Wilson wrote.

"At least one eyewitness" told investigators that police were the only ones who fired, Wilson wrote. One witness was intoxicated at the time of the shooting and evidence conflicts with the idea that only police fired, he wrote.

Wilson wrote that police recovered spent shells from several guns.

Brimmage pleaded guilty to manslaughter this month in connection with the deadly June 2019 shooting of David Morgan, also in the 1500 block of Tupelo Place. A judge sentenced him to 15 years in prison.

Brimmage also pleaded guilty to illegally having a gun during the 2018 shooting.