Friday night Amtrak police officer Laroyce Tankson, turned himself in after officials issued a warrant for his arrest in connection with the fatal killing of a Minneapolis man.
According to reports, the victim, Chad Robertson, was on a bus trip to Minneapolis from Memphis, Tennessee. During a stopover in Chicago, the bus driver told Robertson, who was with his two friends, that they could not go into the bus station. Instead, the bus driver instructed the travelers to go into a nearby train station to keep warm.
Nina, Robertson’s sister, said when her brother and his two friends got into the station they were approached by two aggressive police officers who prompted the three of them to leave the station. Sometime later, the travelers were once again stopped by the two officers outside of the station. The officers accused one of them of smoking weed and when the officials went to search Robertson’s pockets, he took off running. That is when the officer fired his gun.
Robertson was taken to a local hospital where he died one week later from a gunshot wound to the back.
According to the family’s lawyer, Robertson had two young children, no criminal record and was unarmed. Although, officials found weed on him, the amount was “insignificant,” Robertson’s lawyer, Dennis Hopson said.
Officer Tankson was placed on administrative leave following the shooting. He has since turned himself in and has been charged with first-degree murder.
“I’m very pleased that he’s been charged with first-degree murder,” Robertson’s aunt said Friday. “Now that he’s been charged, we need to get a conviction. So we still have a fight ahead of us.”
