Ex-Cop Charged With Murder in Calif. Shooting

This undated family file photo provided by the Law Offices of John Burris shows Oscar Grant, a...

This undated family file photo provided by the Law Offices of John Burris shows Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old transit rider who was shot and killed by BART police on New Year's Day, 2009. A Douglas County jail official confirmed that 27-year-old Johannes Mehserle, who was involved in the incident, was in custody Tuesday night, Jan. 14, 2009, under a fugitive warrant issued in California (AP Photo/Family Handout provided by the Law Offices of John Burris)

(AP)

A former transit police officer has been charged with murder for the fatal shooting of an unarmed and allegedly restrained black man in a racially charged case that has outraged residents and community leaders and set off violent protests.

Newly released court documents allege that Johannes Mehserle, who was charged Tuesday, shot 22-year-old Oscar Grant while Grant had his hands behind his back and another officer was kneeling on his neck.

Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff made the rare decision to file a murder charge against a police officer for an on-duty incident.

"At this point, what I feel the evidence indicates, is an unlawful killing done by an intentional act and from the evidence we have there's nothing that would mitigate that to something lower than a murder," Orloff said at a news conference. He said he would not speculate on whether the charge would end up being first-degree murder or second-degree murder.

Witnesses said Grant was lying face down on a train platform at a station in Oakland when the 27-year-old white officer shot him in the back. Grant and others had been pulled off a train after reports of fighting, as New Year's Eve revelers were shuttling home after midnight.

Allegations that Grant's hands were behind his back and another officer was kneeling on him were contained in an Oakland police officer's request to issue an arrest warrant. It said it appeared from cell phone video that "Mehserle shot and killed Oscar Grant while Grant was restrained and unarmed."

The shooting, captured on cell phone cameras and widely viewed on the Internet, has inflamed long-running tensions in Oakland between law enforcement authorities and many African-American residents.

Hundreds of people have taken to the streets calling for the prosecution of Mehserle, with one rally last week spiraling into violence that resulted in more than 100 arrests and damage to dozens of businesses. Hundred more protesters gathered Wednesday outside Oakland City Hall.