Grand jury finds Amarillo officer-involved shooting was justified

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - 47th Judicial District Attorney Randall Sims said today a Potter County grand jury found an Amarillo officer-involved shooting justified.

The incident happened in April when officials say a man exchanged fire with police before setting a camper on fire at an RV park at 900 South Lakeside.

A resident called 911 on a burglary after finding a man in his trailer at the RV park.

Sims said the man, identified as Aaron Blackmon, was holding one of the RV owner’s handguns.

The resident grabbed another handgun and tried to grab the other weapon from Blackmon, leading to a confrontation.

When police arrived, Sims said Blackmon randomly started shooting rounds at officers, and the officers returned fire.

The SWAT team was called to the scene, when he started to set the RV on fire.

Blackmon died in the incident, however Sims said he did not die from a gunshot wound, but rather from the fire.

“The only shot that hit the person was only a pass through that did not even enter the abdomen, so it was not the officer who killed him," said Sims. "In fact, he took his own life by burning himself up in the camper. So, that’s the cause of death.”

Sims said Blackmon is from out of state and was on drugs at the time of the incident.

“He had 4700 nanograms of meth in his system," said Sims. "An overdose is considered at 1800 to 2000. So he had a lot of methamphetamine on board.”

Since the grand jury found the officer acted appropriately when he fired his weapon, no criminal charges will be filed.

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