Los Angeles County prosecutors will not press charges against a Long Beach police officer who shot and killed an apparently intoxicated college student in May 2015.

Feras Morad, a 20-year-old student from Woodland Hills who was said to be planning a transfer to Cal State Long Beach, died after being shot on the evening of May 27, 2015. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office released the results of its investigation Tuesday.

“We find there is insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Officer (Matthew) Hernandez did not act in lawful self-defense and in defense of others,” the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office declared at the opening of its 31-page report on the shooting.

The district attorney’s report stopped short of declaring the shooting to be clearly lawful and justified. The prosecutors’ report, however, acknowledged that Hernandez made repeated attempts to restrain Morad before resorting to his firearm, and also relayed their conclusion the officer “had an honest belief in the need for self-defense” at the time of the shooting.

The shooting attracted significant public attention. Mourners held a candlelight vigil in Woodland Hills for Morad days after his death. At least 100 protesters, whose numbers included Morad’s friends and family, marched on Long Beach Police Department’s headquarters in early June 2015.

Long Beach police said in a response to a request for comment that Hernandez is still employed as a patrol officer for the department and that police officials cannot comment on details of the case as long as civil litigation is pending. Morad’s family is suing the city and the police department.

Lt. Steve James, president of the Long Beach Police Officers Association, said Hernandez declined to comment on the report. James, however, said that he was at the scene of the shooting to help with Hernandez’s legal representation.

Although James said the shooting itself was unfortunate, he laid the blame for Morad’s death on the young man’s own actions on the night of May 27. He also commended Hernandez for attempting to resolve the situation without using lethal force prior to the shooting.

“I have nothing but praise for how the officer handled himself that day,” James said.

Although the district attorney’s probe is now concluded, Morad’s family wrongful death lawsuit continues against Hernandez, Police Chief Robert Luna and Long Beach’s city government. Attorney Dan Stormer said a trial may commence in February 2018.

He also expressed his disappointment in the district attorney’s decision.

“It’s an insult to the legal system that he isn’t being prosecuted,” Stormer said.

The District Attorney’s Office had no comment on the report.

District attorney’s conclusions

The report included much detail from the accounts of multiple witnesses to the confrontation, some of which conflicted with one another.

While district attorney’s investigators acknowledged that there were distinct differences between witness statements concerning the fatal confrontation, they noted that multiple witnesses said Morad appeared to be behaving violently.

Investigators also concluded there was no doubt Hernandez twice used his Taser before resorting to his pistol but also reported that some elements of Hernandez’s account — trying to fire while his weapon’s safety was active and dropping a Taser cartridge — suggested nervousness and fear.

The district attorney’s report also acknowledged some witnesses did not report a violent perception of Morad’s actions but also observed that only one witness said he saw Morad on his knee before the shooting.

Investigators determined that although Morad was unarmed, he was under the influence of an unknown substance and either unwilling or unable to follow Hernandez’s orders despite the officer’s repeated attempts to resolve the confrontation without killing Morad.

“Hernandez’s decision to use deadly force was arguably reasonable to prevent Morad from assaulting him (Hernandez) and potentially disarming and killing him or others,” the District Attorney’s Office concluded.

Toxicology tests and autopsy

Friends of Morad said after the shooting that he may have had a negative reaction to hallucinogenic mushrooms on the night he was shot. Two friends who witnessed Morad’s death also told investigators Morad told them he was feeling the effects of drugs while acting strangely, “flailing around” an apartment and even biting one of his friend’s arms before falling out of a window into the alley.

The district attorney’s report states toxicology tests of Morad’s blood came back positive for marijuana. Tests for synthetic drugs known as “bath salts” and psychedelic mushrooms or psilocybin, a hallucinogenic chemical present in such fungi, came back negative.

The report also discloses that parties to the civil case wanted further testing, but the Los Angeles County coroner had by then mistakenly thrown away remaining blood samples.

A medical examiner determined Morad sustained six gunshot wounds before dying. One round hit Morad’s chest and two others hit his torso, and in those three instances bullets traveled at a downward direction through Morad’s body.

The examiner told investigators those wounds could be consistent with Morad’s being shot while assuming a fighting stance against Hernandez. The examiner also said Morad’s wounds were more consistent with a sequence of events in which he would have been shot while in such a position, than one in which he was kneeling at the time he was wounded.

The officer’s account

The shooting at the center of the district attorney’s investigation happened shortly before 7:40 p.m. May 27 in an alleyway to the rear of 15th Street, near Ximeno Avenue, in Long Beach’s Traffic Circle area.

Days after the shooting, Long Beach police officials released audio recordings of a 911 call made to city Fire Department dispatcher prior to the shooting. A female caller told the dispatcher a young man later identified as Morad possibly jumped or fell from a second-story window. The witness told the dispatcher Morad appeared to be “very intoxicated and bloody.”

Police also released a recording of the conversation between a Fire Department dispatcher and a Police Department dispatcher in which the former relayed information that Morad had not been seen carrying a weapon, but did appear to be drunk, injured and behaving violently.

District attorney’s investigators obtained statements from Hernandez, a Long Beach Fire Department captain and other firefighters, two of Morad’s friends and several other witnesses.

Broadly, witness statements tell the story of a confrontation during which Morad appeared to be intoxicated and unresponsive to Hernandez’s commands. Multiple witnesses described Morad as acting like a “zombie” during the confrontation.

The statements also corroborated Hernandez’s account of twice using his Taser during attempts to subdue Morad, although the official report also noted there are “troubling” differences between Hernandez’s statement and that given by the on-scene fire captain. Hernandez’s statement asserted that Morad behaved in a dangerous and belligerent manner throughout the May 27 encounter.

Hernandez told investigators he arrived in the alley behind East 15th Street shortly after 7:30 p.m. and firefighters and two of Morad’s friends were already present. Morad was bleeding, shirtless at the time, and Hernandez parked his patrol car about 30 feet away from where Morad was standing. Morad approached Hernandez after the officer’s arrival and although Hernandez left his baton inside the police car, he said he had time to equip himself with a flashlight in addition to his service pistol and Taser.

In Hernandez’s version of events, Morad swung both of his fists while stumbling in Hernandez’s direction, yelling and ignoring orders to stop.

Shortly thereafter, Hernandez reached for his Taser and again commanded Morad to relax while Morad’s friends shouted to the young man that he should put his hands up. Morad reportedly ignored those words and continued to approach Hernandez, who fired his Taser after Morad was seven to 10 feet away from him.

The Taser seemed inneffective. Morad reportedly continued to swing his fists while Hernandez repositioned himself to prevent Morad from running away. At one point, Morad dropped to his knees and although Hernandez attempted to restrain him, Morad got back to his feet. Hernandez later fired his Taser again, despite having to retrieve a second cartridge from the ground after dropping it while reloading.

Again, the shock reportedly did not have much of an effect on Morad.

Hernandez tried to physically restrain Morad, who sat on the ground after breaking free of the officer’s hold.

Hernandez then drew his Heckler & Koch .45 service pistol and aimed it Morad, and he later told investigators he intended to hold Morad at gunpoint until backup officers showed up.

Morad, however, got back up and approached Hernandez again, still ignoring orders. Hernandez tried to fire upon the approaching Morad, but the gun’s safety was on. Morad suddenly changed direction, away from Hernandez.

Hernandez put the pistol away and tried to subdue Morad by using his flashlight to strike Morad’s right leg. Morad again sat down, and Hernandez called for backup.

But Hernandez said Morad stood up once again, began to walk toward him while raising his hands what appeared to be a “classic” fighting position before yelling “I’m coming to get you” to the officer.

Hernandez told investigators he believed he had run out of opportunities to use less-lethal force to subdue Morad and that if the situation escalated to a “full-blown, knock-down, drag out street fight,” Morad may have been capable of inflicting serious injury or even taking Hernandez’s gun in order to kill him.

When Morad came within 5 to 7 feet, Hernandez aimed his weapon and ordered Morad to stop. When Morad did not, Hernandez fired four or five rounds. The officer said he then handcuffed Morad’s body and a firefighter delivered first aid.

Fire captain’s account

A Long Beach Fire Department captain whose statement was also included in the report also said that Morad was shirtless and bleeding but his statement varies broadly from Hernandez’s.

The fire captain told investigators that Hernandez did not answer when he asked if he needed help dealing with Morad.The captain’s version does not describe Morad’s actions as violent or aggressive. Instead, he told investigators that Morad seemed lethargic.

The fire captain’s statement also reports that Morad was ignoring Hernandez’s commands and didn’t appear to realize he’d been tased a second time. The fire captain said he was “shocked” when Hernandez first aimed his pistol at Morad, since his eyes saw that Morad was “just standing there” while refusing to obey Hernandez.

After Hernandez warned Morad multiple times that he would be shot, Morad walked toward Hernandez’s car and appeared to place his hands on the vehicle’s hood. Hernandez then pulled Morad down by the back of his pants and, despite the officer’s command for Morad to lie on his belly, the captain said Morad got back to his feet.

The fire captain told investigators that Morad then continued to behave strangely while walking around, but did not seem to be violent. Morad did not respond to Hernandez’ repeated orders to take a prone position, but eventually got down to one knee and appeared to be fidgeting with his hands.

Morad was still on his knee, three or four feet away from Hernandez, when the fire captain said he observed the officer firing three shots.

The fire captain also told investigators that he and other firefighters would have come to Hernandez’s aid if they thought the police officer was in physical danger.