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Thomas Lane, ex-Minneapolis officer convicted in George Floyd’s murder, released from prison
MINNEAPOLIS — One of the former Minneapolis police officers convicted in the murder of George Floyd has been released from custody, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Thomas Lane was found guilty in 2022 of violating Floyd’s civil rights when former officer Derek Chauvin murdered Floyd on May 25, 2020. Lane was sentenced in 2022 to 2.5 years in federal prison.
Lane was convicted earlier that year on state charges of aiding and abetting manslaughter and was sentenced to three years. Two of those years were served concurrently with his federal sentence, which ended on Feb. 26 of this year, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Lane served his time in Colorado. The prison bureau previously said he would go into supervision after being released.
Lane was one of four former officers convicted in Floyd’s murder, which sparked protests in Minnesota and across the globe.
Chauvin was convicted on state charges of murder and manslaughter and sentenced to 22.5 years. Last fall, the U.S. Supreme Court declined his appeal of that conviction. He also pleaded guilty to federal charges of violating Floyd’s rights and was given a 21-year sentence.
J. Alexander Kueng pleaded guilty to manslaughter and sentenced to 3.5 years. Tou Thao was convicted of second-degree aiding and abetting manslaughter and sentenced to nearly five years.
Kueng and Thao were also both found guilty of civil rights violations, receiving three- and 3.5-year sentences, respectively.
All of the state and federal sentences were concurrent.
In the wake of Floyd’s murder, the Minneapolis Police Department faced dual investigations from the Minnesota Department of Human Rights and the U.S. Department of Justice. Both investigations found yearslong patterns of discriminatory practices and mandated the city enter into reformatory consent decrees.
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A teacher and student killed in a shooting earlier this week at a school in Madison, Wisconsin, were identified Wednesday by authorities.
The Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office said in a news release provided to CBS News that 42-year-old Erin West and 14-year-old Rubi Vergara were fatally shot Monday morning at Abundant Life Christian School.
Preliminary examinations determined the two died of “homicidal firearm related trauma.” Both were pronounced dead at the scene, the medical examiner said.
An online obituary on a local funeral site stated Vergara was a freshman who leaves behind her parents, one brother, and a large extended family. It described her as “an avid reader” who “loved art, singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band.”
West’s exact position with the school was unclear.
The medical examiner also confirmed that a preliminary autopsy found that the suspected shooter, 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow — a student at the same school — was pronounced dead at a local hospital Monday of “firearm related trauma.” Madison Chief of Police Shon F. Barnes had previously told reporters that Rupnow was pronounced dead while being transported to a hospital.
Police had also previously stated that she was believed to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The shooting at the private Christian K-12 school was reported just before 11 a.m. Monday. In addition to the two people killed and the shooter, six others were wounded.
Police said the shooting occurred in a classroom where a study hall was taking place involving students from several grades.
A handgun was recovered after the shooting, Barnes said, but it was unclear where the gun came from or how many shots were fired. A law enforcement source said the weapon used in the shooting appears to have been a 9 mm pistol.
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