Texas Officer Who Pointed Gun at Kids Cleared of Wrongdoing

An investigation in to an incident in July in which an officer with the El Paso (TX) Police Department pointed his service pistol at a group of kids who were taunting him during an arrest has found that the officer did not wrongfully draw his gun.

In the July 5 incident Officer Jose Rios was attempting to effect the arrest of two juveniles when he was surrounded by a number of other juveniles who closed in on him as they shouted taunts. The incident was captured on cell phone video, which quickly went viral on social media.

Chief Greg Allen said at a news conference Thursday, "The fact that he was involved in an incident that drew a lot of attention is no reason, in my opinion, and I know I'm right on that, to take that person out of those communities simply because there was an outrage at one point," according to the El Paso Times .

Elizabeth Flores, whose sons Julian and Jacob Saucedo were arrested during the incident, said she has hired an attorney and is in the process of filing a civil lawsuit against Rios.

Rios was placed on desk duty after the incident but has since returned to regular duty in the same area.