KARK’s Mitch McCoy reports that there’s been a change in status of Charles Starks, the Little Rock police officer who fatally shot Bradley Blackshire last week during a traffic stop.

Starks was initially placed on administrative leave, a typical status for officers involved in cases of deadly use of force while shootings are reviewed. McCoy says today that Starks has been “relieved of duty.” He remains on the payroll, but must turn over his badge and gun, McCoy says. No information has been offered on why the status changed. I’ve sent questions to the Police Department. To date, no recordings — audio or video — have been released of the event. It’s unclear at the moment whether the investigation has discovered if other video might exist from nearby businesses.

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Starks has said he stopped the car because it was listed as stolen (reportedly from a car rental agency in Fort Smith.) He said Blackshire refused to get out of the car and began driving, striking him. He then opened fire, killing Blackshire.

LRPD Spokesman Eric Barnes said he could confirm Starks’ “credentials” had been taken, but couldn’t answer other questions because the investigation was ongoing.

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