Cop cleared in 17-year-old's shooting

The police officer who shot and killed 17-year-old Rishi Chandrikasing at Hollands Spoor train station in The Hague last year, has been acquitted. The court decided on Monday to drop the charges of manslaughter and murder.

The fatal shooting took place on Saturday morning November 24th 2012. Three police officers had reacted to a call, reportedly about a man who was brandishing a gun at the train station. Upon encountering Rishi -who fit the description they had received- the officers instructed him to freeze and put up his hands, but when Rishi refused, he was shot in the neck. The boy died in the hospital a few hours later The policeman said later he had intended to hit Rishi in his leg. It turned out later that the boy did not have a weapon and video footage showed that the plainclothes policeman fired the shot while he was running toward Rishi, which was considered an unnecessary risk.

The officer at first faced manslaughter charges; murder charges were added in December to appease the boy’s family who had expressed fears that the officer would escape punishment.

But the Judge did not find that the policeman’s intent to kill was proven; he said the officer only used armed force because he wanted to arrest Rishi and did not intentionally ignore the associated risks.

The Judge also called the addition of murder charges so late in the case “unwarranted and unnecessarily hurtful.”