RTX1MGPV
An impromptu memorial for Samuel Dubose is posted on July 30, 2015 near the spot in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was shot. Two University of Cincinnati police officers were placed on leave Thursday in relation to DuBose's July 19 death. Reuters

Two University of Cincinnati police officers were placed on administrative leave on Thursday in relation to the July 19 shooting death of unarmed motorist Sam DuBose, reported the Cincinnati Enquirer. The news comes hours after Ray Tensing, the former officer who shot and killed DuBose, pleaded not guilty on murder and voluntary manslaughter charges.

DuBose, who was African-American, was pulled over for a traffic stop by the officer, who is white. The Hamilton County Prosecutor’s office announced Wednesday that a grand jury found in favor of indicting Tensing after body camera footage showed the shooting. Tensing had said he was dragged by DuBose's car, but the video appeared to show the 43-year-old man was calm. Fellow officer Phillip Kidd corroborated that story according to video from the scene, the Enquirer reported.

University of Cincinnati spokeswoman Michele Ralston told the Enquirer that Kidd and fellow University of Cincinnati police officer David Lindenschmidt were placed on leave on Thursday. Both officers testified before the jury that ultimately indicted Tensing, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters told the paper. Deters said the officers, "didn't see anything," and that he promised Dubose's family he would look into what the officers "said and how they said it, but I did urge them to remember that our focus is on the shooting," according to the Enquirer.

RTX1MH3W
University of Cincinnati police officer Ray Tensing (left) approaches a car with his gun drawn after driver Samuel Dubose was allegedly pulled over and shot during a traffic stop in Cincinnati, Ohio, on July 19, 2015, in a still image from a body camera video released by the Hamilton County Prosecutor's office on July 29, 2015. Reuters

Tensing is currently being held on $1 million bond. He can post 10 percent of that amount in cash or property in order to be released, and his attorney told WLWT in Cincinnati that his family is working to come up with the bond. Deters previously addressed what appeared to be the contradictory nature of Tensing's story and body cam footage.

"People want to believe that Mr. DuBose had done something violent towards the officer -- he did not," Deters said, according to CNN. "He did not at all. I feel so sorry for his family and what they lost, and I feel sorry for the community, too."

The fatal shooting of DuBose is just the latest death of an unarmed black man involving police. The shootings have spurred a national debate since the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

RELATED STORIES