No Charges for Tuscaloosa Officers in Deadly December Shooting

There will be no criminal charges filed against the Tuscaloosa Police officers who fatally shot a man near Bowers Park in December, investigators said Monday.

During a press conference about a new TPD shooting that left a 45-year-old woman dead Monday morning, Jack Kennedy, the commander of the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit, confirmed that a grand jury has reviewed the evidence collected after the December killing and agreed the TPD officers involved did not commit a crime.

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For the unfamiliar, that shooting took place shortly after noon on December 20th, 2023, on 37th Street near Bowers Park in Tuscaloosa.

Narcotics officers who were not wearing body cameras pulled over a vehicle for an alleged traffic violation, and 24-year-old Tristan Decederuc Clark was sitting in the back seat.

Police claim there was a warrant out for Clark's arrest, and he was armed at the time of the stop. They said the 24-year-old reached for a gun in his waistband, pulled it free and refused commands to group it before one of the officers fired his weapon several times and killed Clark.

Although there was no body camera footage of the exchange, Kennedy said a grand jury has determined the officers did not commit a crime.

"The grand jury reported out on that earlier last week or the week before and they no-billed any criminal charges on any officers in that officer-involved shooting, so there are no criminal charges pending in that case."

As for the Monday shooting, Kennedy said two separate body cameras captured footage that will show the police officers involved were clearly acting to save the life of a woman who was being attacked with a knife by her mentally ill mother.

For more coverage of crime and courts in west Alabama, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.