PORTSMOUTH, Va. (AP) — A jury convicted a white former police officer of voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of an unarmed black teen accused of shoplifting at a Wal-Mart.
The jury did not convict on the first-degree murder charge prosecutors sought in the case of Portsmouth Officer Stephen Rankin, who was fired as he awaited trial. But criminal charges are rare in police-involved shootings, and convictions are even more uncommon.
Rankin shot 18-year-old William Chapman in the face and chest outside a Wal-Mart last year after a security guard accused the teen of shoplifting. No video recorded the killing, and testimony conflicted on the details.
