No charges will be filed against police sergeant in officer-involved shooting of Tyrese West

NOW: No charges will be filed against police sergeant in officer-involved shooting of Tyrese West
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RACINE COUNTY, Wis. (CBS 58) – The Racine County District Attorney's Office will not file charges against a police sergeant in the death of 18-year-old Tyrese West.


West was shot by Mount Pleasant Police Sergeant Eric Giese on June 15. 

For hours, hundreds of people rallying stood on the steps of the Racine County courthouse changing Tyrese's name and demanding charges be filed.

District Attorney Patricia Hanson says charges won't be filed in the police shooting death of West, because Mount Pleasant police Sergeant Eric Giese as acting under self-defense.

At times, emotions ran high at the rally Wednesday. 

West's mother, Monique, had a feeling the decision wasn't going to be the one she wanted.

"I already knew that was gonna happen," she said. "I already had it set at my heart already. That's just how they treat people."

Protestors came ready to demand justice for 18-year-old West and support his hurting family. 

West was killed on June 15. Police say West was armed, and Hanson says the deadly force was the last option.

Sergeant Giese described the shooting as the most intense and stressful situation of his life.

West's mother and grandmother did not want to meet with Hanson. They were not ready to see pictures of West the night he was killed.

"I know whatever evidence they have, it's gonna be unbearable to see," said Tyrese's grandmother, Barbara West.

The family says the fight is not over. They plan on taking the case to federal court.

"I still want a thorough investigation done, and we'll just have to go forward from there and take it to the Supreme Court," said West's father, Dwight Person. 

Sergeant Giese is expected to return to full duty.

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