Was a Roane County deputy's latest shooting justified? WV State Police investigation doesn't say.

West Virginia State Police have completed an investigation of a Roane County deputy’s second fatal shooting in as many years, but the agency report does not offer a conclusion on whether the shooting was justified.

Deputy Mike King shot and killed 63-year-old Michael Nichols on Oct. 22, 2020. Less than two years earlier — in February 2019 — King shot and killed 28-year-old Timmy Rhodes. The shootings were the subject of a Mountain State Spotlight investigation published earlier this month.

The State Police investigation into the Rhodes shooting ends with a paragraph offering the officer’s conclusions: that King’s actions were a “reasonable and necessary” response. But a report on the Nichols shooting does not include a similar concluding paragraph.

A State Police spokesman and Roane County officials did not respond to requests for comment by publication. A lawyer for King declined to comment.

Rhodes’ and Nichols’ families are suing King and others.

Read more: https://mountainstatespotlight.org/2021/07/30/wv-state-police-investigation-mike-king/