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The Alabama attorney general is taking over the investigation into the police killing of Emantic Bradford Jr. at a Hoover mall, CNN reports. Attorney General Steve Marshall reportedly sent a letter to Jefferson County District Attorney Danny Carr, stating that he should be recused from the case. Marshall reportedly cited Carr’s connections to the unnamed officer involved in the fatal shooting and to protesters who have called for the officer to be criminally prosecuted. “While I have no reason to believe that you are actually biased or compromised, I agree that other fair-minded persons might question your neutrality based on the information that you provided in the letter and during our private conversations,” Marshall reportedly wrote.
The Hoover officer involved in the shooting was reportedly the “charging officer or witness in about 20 cases” that Carr’s office was handling, and Carr had “personal relationships” with certain protesters. The cop was working at the mall on Thanksgiving night when he killed Bradford, an innocent bystander, while responding to a shooting that injured two people. Bradford, 21, was first identified as the suspect—but police later recanted that claim. Police then said Bradford “brandished” a weapon, but later clarified that statement, saying he “had a gun in his hand” when police shot him. Witnesses reportedly told the family’s attorney that Bradford was helping mall visitors when he was shot in the back.