6 Cleveland Officers Indicted in Deadly Car Chase

A police car chase that ended in a schoolyard with two unarmed suspects dying in a hail of 137 bullets is part of a wide-ranging federal investigation into the Cleveland Police Department's use of deadly force and its pursuit policies.

Six officers in the police department were indicted Friday on charges related to the chase, Cuyohoga County prosecutor Tim McGinty said. Patrol officer Michael Brelo, who the prosecutor said stood on the hood of the suspects' car and fired at least 15 shots through the windshield, has been charged with two counts of manslaughter. Five supervisors have been charged with dereliction of duty for failing to control the chase.

McGinty cited a U.S. Supreme Court ruling this week that said police can't fire on suspects after a public safety threat has ended. He said the other officers on the scene had stopped firing after the November 2012 chase ended.

"This was now a stop-and-shoot — no longer a chase-and-shoot," McGinty said. "The law does not allow for a stop-and-shoot."

Driver Timothy Russell was shot 23 times. Passenger Malissa Williams was shot 24 times. No gun was found on them or in their vehicle. The chase began when an officer thought he heard a gunshot from a car speeding by the police and courts complex, jumped into his patrol car and radioed for help. Police don't know why Russell didn't stop.

Brelo fired 49 shots. None of the other 12 officers who fired shots were indicted, McGinty said Friday.

The killings have been decried as a racially motivated execution — both victims were black — and are part of a larger federal investigation into the troubled police department.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/cleveland-police-officers-indicted-large-chase-23935859