Columbia police say a clerical error caused the Missouri Highway Patrol to classify an unsolved fatal shooting as a justifiable homicide.
The Columbia Daily Tribune reports that a monthly statistical report compiled by the patrol lists a 21-year-old white male as the shooter in the May 19 death of 25-year-old Brandon Coleman.
Coleman's family and some community leaders have criticized Columbia police for not making an arrest in a case police say remains under investigation.
Police Sgt. Joe Bernhard says an unnamed records clerk "jumped the gun" in wrongly classifying Coleman's shooting for the state report.
A man at the crime scene has said he was being held at gunpoint during an argument. The man said his son emerged from a nearby home with a shotgun, firing it to defend his father.
