Officer Who Shot Teen 13 Months Ago Had No Notice of Firing

Zachary Hammond/File

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – The lawyer for a Seneca police officer being fired more than a year after shooting an unarmed teen during a drug sting says the officer has not been told why he is losing his job.

Attorney John Mussetto said in a statement that Seneca Police Lt. Mark Tiller was given almost no notice before the police chief announced Tiller’s firing in a news release Saturday.

Mussetto says Chief John Covington said to him the same thing he said in his press release _ Tiller’s firing is a personnel matter and offered no more details.

A state prosecutor did not press charges against Tiller for the July 2015 killing of 19-year-old Zachary Hammond, saying while Tiller might have made a bad decision he broke no law.

Federal authorities are still investigating.