Officer returns to work after Alton Sterling’s 2016 killing

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A police officer has returned to work for the first time since his partner’s fatal shooting of a black man, Alton Sterling, set off protests in Louisiana’s capital city nearly two years ago.

A spokesman for the Baton Rouge Police Department says Officer Howie Lake II returned to work Thursday with no restrictions.

Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul announced last Friday that he was suspending Lake for three days and firing Officer Blane Salamoni, who shot and killed Sterling during a struggle outside a convenience store in July 2016.

Lake helped wrestle Sterling to the ground but did not fire his weapon that night.

State and federal authorities ruled out criminal charges against the two white officers, who had remained on paid administrative leave since the shooting.