Court reverses order to reinstate fired Little Rock officer

By ANDREW DeMILLO
Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — An Arkansas appeals court has reversed a lower court judge’s order that Little Rock must reinstate a police officer who was fired for fatally shooting a Black motorist. The Arkansas Court of Appeals panel reversed Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox’s decision last year regarding the firing of former Officer Charles Starks over the fatal shooting of Bradley Blackshire. Starks fired his gun at least 15 times through the windshield of a car Blackshire was driving in February 2019. Police commanders fired Starks, saying he violated a department policy that requires officers to move out of an oncoming vehicle’s path if possible rather than fire on it.