ICYMI: Autopsy Confirms Man Shot In Back By Charlotte Officer

CHARLOTTE, NC -- An autopsy released this week regarding a March shooting indicates a 25-year-old man was killed from behind by a Charlotte police officer, corroborating an account by an eyewitness who says the shooting was unjustified, according to a report.

Iaroslav Mosiiuk was killed by CMPD Officer Brian Walsh March 8 by a single gunshot to the back, the autopsy found, The Charlotte Observer reported Tuesday evening.

Previously, CMPD had said Walsh fired a shot at Mosiiuk when he felt he faced an "imminent threat," the newspaper has reported.

The autopsy result support Olesya Tabaka’s eyewitness account of how her brother was killed, a chain of events set off after police had been called because he was acting suicidal and looking for the rifle. Tabaka said her brother had his back to police and she told police he could not fire the weapon because it was missing a part that he did not know how to reinstall. “The officer looked at me and then he fired,” she told the Observer.

Following the autopsy release, CMPD issued a statement: “The findings of the autopsy examination are consistent with the statements of several witnesses,” the department's June 6 statement said.

According to those witness statements, Mosiiuk leveled the rifle towards officers when they knocked at the door, “before he ‘exploded’ in the direction of the officers,” CMPD said. The officers took cover and Mosiiuk ran toward CMPD Officer Dezenzo as he tracked his movement the rifle, CMPD said. Officer Walsh, who was behind Mosiiuk, saw him point the weapon at the officer. “Officer Walsh interpreted this action as an imminent deadly threat to Officer Dezenzo and fired his service weapon striking Mr. Mosiiuk in the upper back,” CMPD said.

According to the newspaper, a CMPD spokesman said the department has submitted its information from its investigation into the shooting to the district attorney’s office, while the police department’s own internal investigation continues.

You can read the entire Charlotte Observer article here.

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