Watertown officers justified in the fatal shooting of an armed suspect who fled on a skateboard
By: The Watertown police officer who fatally shot a suspect in October will not face criminal charges, Jefferson County District Attorney Monica Hall said Tuesday.
Officer James Simon shot Justin Whitten, 30, just before 4 p.m. Oct. 18.
Police said they had been looking for Whitten during an ongoing domestic abuse investigation, citing allegations that Whitten was armed and threatening suicide.
When officers tried to pull Whitten over, they said, he sped away, driving 70 mph in a 25 mph zone. After stopping their chase, police found that Whitten had parked his car and was skateboarding away.
Whitten can be seen ignoring Officer Nathan Zubke’s commands to stop and get on the ground on footage from Zubke’s body camera.
Zubke ran after Whitten as he skateboarded away and was quickly passed by Simon’s unmarked squad car.
Simon’s body camera footage shows him drawing his gun almost immediately after parking his patrol car, pointing the weapon at Whitten, who appears to pull something black from his pocket. Zubke is holding his taser, yelling “he’s got ... gun, gun, gun.”
Simon shot Whitten twice, yelling for Whitten to roll away from the gun he was holding after he fell.
Simon picked up Whitten’s gun, tossing it away from him as the man rolled onto his back. After officers handcuffed Whitten, EMTs arrived. He died at the scene.