WHITE PLAINS – The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has announced that there is insufficient evidence to pursue federal criminal charges in the fatal shooting of Kenneth Chamberlain.
The 68-year-old man was killed during an encounter with White Plains Police officers on November 19, 2011.
The US Attorney’s Office opened an investigation following the decision by a New York State grand jury not to indict any of the officers involved. On November 17, 2016, a federal grand jury in a civil case filed by Chamberlain’s family concluded White Plains officers who shot Chamberlain were not liable for his death.
After conducting a thorough and independent investigation, the US Attorney’s Office said it has determined there is insufficient evidence to meet the high burden of proof required for a federal criminal civil rights prosecution.
The evidence from the investigation revealed that a medical alert company received an alert from Chamberlain’s apartment in the Winbrook Houses complex. The operator for Life Aid received no response to an inquiry she made to Chamberlain so she called the police.
When officers arrived at his apartment, Chamberlain would not let them in, but when they got the door open, he poked a knife at them. It was safely taken away, but when they tried to check on Chamberlain, he had another knife. One officer tasered him, but that didn’t not incapacitate the man who lunged toward an officer, resulting in another policeman shooting and killing Chamberlain.
The federal investigation determined that the officers believed Chamberlain was threatening the officer with a knife and that the police officer who fired the fatal shot believed the other officer was in danger of being seriously injured by Chamberlain.
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