NEW: Wise County Commonwealth’s Attorney rules officer-involved shooting in Norton was justified

Wise County Commonwealth’s Attorney Chuck Slemp says no criminal charges will be filed against Norton’s police chief and one of his officers for the shooting of a shoplifting suspect.

Slemp wrote in a report to the Virginia State Police that Chief James Lane and Sgt. Jason McConnell was justified when they both returned fire on James Buckland of Pound earlier this month near a retail area off Hawthorne Drive.

The attorney also wrote in his findings that bodycam footage retrieved from both officers’ cameras helped in his conclusion. Lane and McConnell can also return to duty when physically able to do so.

Lane received a gunshot wound to the leg and continues to recover.

Buckland was released from a Tri-Cities hospital this week and returned to Virginia where he will be arraigned on a charge of attempted capital murder.

(IMAGE: K. Castle / SuperTalk 929 / Bristol Broadcasting Co.)