Baltimore police officer Wesley Cagle was charged Wednesday with attempted first-degree murder in the shooting of an unarmed burglary suspect in December last year.
Cagle, 45, is accused of shooting Michael Johansen, 46, in the groin while he was on the ground after being shot by two other officers, reported Reuters. He was also charged with attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, second-degree assault and a firearms violation.
District Court Judge Halee F. Weinstein on Thursday cited the "heinous and callous nature" of the allegations in setting Cagle's bail at $1 million. In response, Cagle's defense attorney Chaze Ball asked the bail to be set at $150,000, arguing that Cagle isn't a threat to the community or a risk to not appear in court, according to The Baltimore Sun.
State Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby noted that the first two officers were justified in shooting Johansen because he disobeyed commands and reached toward his waistband. However, Cagle, "on his own initiative," came out of an alley, stood over him, called him a "piece of s--t" and shot him in the groin.
"Johansen was no longer considered a potential threat, as witnesses did not see Johansen make any aggressive or threatening movements," Mosby said.
During the resulting investigation, authorities were unable to uncover any weapons belonging to Johansen at the crime scene.
Cagle is the first Baltimore police officer criminally charged in an on-duty shooting since Officer Tommy Sanders, who was charged with manslaughter in the 2008 shooting of an unarmed man who tried to evade arrest. He was later acquitted of those charges in 2010.
Since both men were white, race hasn't been raised as a factor in the shooting, according to The Washington Times. However, it does come amid a national debate about the deaths of black men at the hands of police, as well as after the indictment of six Baltimore officers in the death Freddie Gray, a black man who was killed via spine injury while in police custody.
Cagle posted bail with the help of a bail bondsman Thursday, according to court records.
