A Maryland grand jury declined to charge four police officers in the fatal shooting of a 24-year-old man they said fired first during a late-night foot chase earlier this year in Gaithersburg.

       At least three officers, members of a plainclothes street unit for the Gaithersburg Police Department, told investigators they saw a “muzzle flash” from a gun aimed at them by Kwamena Ocran, according to the officers’ recorded statements released by Montgomery County prosecutors announcing the grand jury’s decision Thursday.

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       Two of the officers also said that just before the flash, they had yelled at Ocran to stop fleeing and stop reaching into his waistband.

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       “Police — stop running!” Cpl. Larbi Dakkouni recalled shouting at Ocran, according to his statement. “Police — stop reaching! Let me see your hands! Police, police! Don’t do it!”

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       The officers said Ocran was still running and turning his body when he fired. Ocran was hit eight times, including two wounds to his “left lateral back,” according to a 12-page report of the case that prosecutors also released Thursday.

       The other officers involved were Sgt. Willie Delgado, Officer James Doyle and Officer Kyle Khuen.

       The Jan. 8 incident had been a challenge for authorities to investigate.

       It was not video-recorded because, at the time, Gaithersburg’s plainclothes officers were not required to wear body cameras. And while an officer who arrived at the scene moments after the shooting was wearing a camera — and recorded footage of a gun next to Ocran’s body — crime scene technicians could never find shell casings from Ocran’s gun despite three sweeps of the scene that picked up 23 other shell casings, the report stated.

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       Since Sept. 9, findings from the investigation had been presented nearly once a week to a grand jury, which unlike trial juries are empaneled to review evidence to decide if charges should be filed. The majority of the grand jurors concluded Thursday that “there was not enough evidence to charge the officers,” according to the prosecutors’ report.

       Gaithersburg police officials said that apart from the now-closed criminal investigation, an internal department investigation “is underway to determine if the use of lethal force was in conformance with the policies of the Gaithersburg Police Department.” The police statement added, “The involved officers will remain on administrative leave until the completion of the internal investigation.”

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