The white Ferguson cop who killed an unarmed black teen is in talks to resign from his police department — and may give up policing altogether, his lawyer said Wednesday night.
“It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when,” Officer Darren Wilson’s attorney, Neil Bruntrager, told CNN. “He’s on paid leave, and there are discussions that are going on right now to separate from the department in an amicable fashion.”
The news came a day after Wilson said that he lived in fear as he kept under the radar while awaiting a decision from the grand jury that ultimately chose not to charge him.
“I’d use the word stressful, but that’s an understatement,” Wilson told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos during a 90-minute interview in St. Louis.
“You just take precautions — everything you do, everywhere you go. You know, from where you sit in a restaurant to where you drive.”
He even hid behind an “uncomfortable” beard so he wouldn’t be recognized.
Wilson said he’s been getting used to a “new normal” since he fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown on Aug. 9.
But as riots continued to rock Ferguson, the cop said he doesn’t feel safe yet. Wilson worries about “someone hurting my family or another officer getting hurt,” he said.
And his family is growing: Wilson revealed that he’s expecting a baby with his new wife, fellow Ferguson Police Officer Barbara Spradling.
While he always wanted to be a cop, the shooting has shattered that dream.
“Do you really think it’s possible?” he asked Stephanopoulos. “I mean, do you think they would accept me? Do you think it would be safe for me? Those are all questions, not only for me, but for the other officers. Is the attention brought to me going to hurt one of them?”
Asked what he’d like to do next, he added, “I would love to give people more insight on uses of force.”