Dallas police officer who shot at unarmed man is suspended without pay for 45 days

A Dallas police officer who shot at an unarmed man in Far East Dallas last month has been suspended for 45 days after the department completed an internal investigation.

Officer Branson Grisham had been on paid administrative leave after he fired once at a 59-year-old man who was standing still with his hands raised in the air.

The man, whom police have not identified, was not struck, and no one was injured in the incident, which was recorded on the officer’s body camera.

Police Chief Eddie García, who has said he had “serious concerns” about the shooting, decided on the disciplinary action Wednesday and the suspension began Thursday, said Sgt. Warren Mitchell, a police spokesman. García has said a grand jury will decide whether the officer will face criminal charges.

Grisham had been dispatched about 8:30 p.m. Sept. 2 with other officers to reports of about five to seven men drinking and firing a gun into the air in an alley in the 9700 block of Rustown Drive. The caller singled out a man in an orange shirt among the group, the department said.

Body-camera footage shows Grisham approaching a man in an orange shirt who is sitting on a sidewalk. The officer yells “Come here now!” as the man runs away along the side of a building.

The footage shows Grisham drawing his gun as he rounds the corner. He tells the man in the orange shirt, “Let me see your [expletive] hands!” and the man, who appears to be standing still and facing officers, begins to raise his hands.

One gunshot, which police say was fired by Grisham, is heard as officers shine a light on the man. With his arms still raised, the man walks toward the officers and then lies on the sidewalk as officers continue to yell at him and handcuff him. The video ends with officers confirming there are no injuries.

The man was later released, and no charges were filed.

García said a week after the incident that no weapons were found on the man. He said everything he’d seen on paper about Grisham showed him to be an “exceptional officer,” but he said he had “some concerns about the tactics which led to this shooting.”

“As I’ve said many times, when we’re right, we’re right,” García said. “When we stumble, we need to hold ourselves accountable.”

Grisham has been on the force since July 2015.

A suspension means the officer won’t be paid while away from the job. Mitchell said Grisham has a right