BART apologizes for New Year's slaying

OAKLAND, Calif., Jan. 9 (UPI) -- The Bay Area Rapid Transit board has apologized for the New Year's Day death of an unarmed man, shot by a transit police officer in Oakland, Calif.

The officer, Johannes Mehserle, resigned from BART Wednesday and is being investigated by BART and the Alameda County district attorney's office in the shooting death of Oscar Grant, the Oakland (Calif.) Tribune reported Thursday. The shooting of Grant, who is black, was captured on cell phone and digital camera videos and replayed on national television outlets.

In the videos, Grant appears to be facedown on the ground at a BART station and Mehserle appears to draw his gun and shoot Grant in the back.

At a meeting Thursday, BART board members said they could not take any action on the incident because it had not formally been added to the meeting's agenda, so adequate public notice had not been given. Still, the board agreed to listen to those who came to the meeting to speak.

The BART board said it would establish a committee to evaluate police issues and consider creating a civilian police review board, the Tribune said.

The meeting took place one day after protesters in Oakland turned violent, smashing storefronts and setting cars on fire. The Wednesday protest began peacefully at the Fruitvale Station in Oakland, where Grant was killed, but just after dark a group of about 200 protesters left the station and headed toward downtown, smashing windows at a hair salon, a pharmacy, several restaurants and vehicles.

Police arrested several dozen protesters.