LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A Little Rock Police Department officer who had been fired last year following a deadly shooting has been order reinstated to his job by a local judge.

The decision in the case of Officer Charles Starks was revealed Thursday morning by Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Timothy Davis Fox. [Click here to read the ruling].

Starks had been terminated by the LRPD following the February 2019 shooting death of Bradley Blackshire after a traffic stop.

Judge Fox’s decision states that Starks did violate a LRPD general order but reverses the action of the Little Rock Civil Service Commission that terminated Starks from the force.

The judge’s order reinstates Starks to his job effective June 5, 2019, which means he will receive backpay from that date.

Judge Fox also reduced Starks’ pay to that of the entry level salary for the LRPD’s newly hired officers, as of June 4, 2019.

Khayyam M. Eddings, who served as an attorney for the City of Little Rock in the case, released the following statement: