Policeman’s Killing Charges Dropped

A state judge Friday dismissed charges against a police officer charged with manslaughter in the shotgun killing of an elderly woman during an eviction. Officer Stephen Sullivan had been indicted by a grand jury in January in the death of Eleanor Bumpurs, 66.

Police said Sullivan fired two blasts from a 12-gauge shotgun when Bumpurs lunged with a butcher knife at six officers trying to evict her from her city-owned apartment on Oct. 29. The killing prompted black activists to stage a series of angry protests.