North Dakota police officers cleared in fatal shooting of teen last year

By JACK DURA
Associated Press

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota prosecutor has declined charges against three Bismarck police officers who were involved in the fatal shooting of a teenager last fall during a traffic stop. Burleigh County State’s Attorney Julie Lawyer announced her decision on Tuesday. Seventeen-year-old Nicholas Bruington of Bismarck was shot and killed during the traffic stop in a mall parking lot on Nov. 12, 2023. Lawyer said Bruington was “a suspect in a report of gunfire” in the area, and witnesses had identified him as the shooter. Lawyer said during the traffic stop, Bruington “did not immediately comply” with officers’ commands to show his hands. After he exited the vehicle, she said he “bent back into the vehicle and emerged with a firearm in his right hand. Officers shot him twice.