FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Officials say a Florida police officer who shot a woman in the face with a rubber bullet during a demonstration against police violence won't face disciplinary action.
Interim Fort Lauderdale Police Chief Patrick Lynn announced the results Thursday of an internal investigation.
LaToya Ratlieff was shot in the face with a rubber bullet on May 31 while protesting police violence in downtown Fort Lauderdale.
She suffered severe injuries that required 20 stitches and damaged one of her eyes.
An internal affairs investigation determined that the officer who shot Ratlieff had been aiming at another protestor who was attempting to pick up a tear gas canister that was still spewing gas.
According to The Associated Press, Interim Chief Lynn said since the officer was not aiming at Ratlieff, but a person he was justified in shooting, that no department policy was violated.
The AP reported that although the officer who shot Ratlieff wasn’t disciplined, two other officers who used obscene and vulgar language while shooting rubber bullets at the protesters were each suspended for a day.
