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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Tim Reynolds

Colorado police say no charges to be filed against Memphis Grizzlies’ Ja Morant

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

NBA star Ja Morant will not face any criminal charges over a social media video in which he appeared to brandish a gun in a nightclub.

Police in Colorado announced that they had closed their investigation into the Memphis Grizzlies player, who has apologised for his actions and was suspended by his team.

Glendale Police Department had opened a probe into the incident, which took place at a strip club called Shotgun Willie’s in the Denver suburb.

The department said in a statement on Wednesday that it was “not able to determine that probable cause existed for filing any charges.”

“In this case, it should be noted that on the night in question the GPD did not receive any calls for service at the nightclub regarding a weapon of any type,” GPD said in the statement.

“Subsequently, no disturbances were reported, and no citizens or patrons of the club came forward to make a complaint.

“The investigation also concluded that no one was threatened or menaced by the firearm and in fact no firearm was ever located.”

Following the police statement, the team announced that Morant would be away from the team for at least a further four games.

In the wake of the Friday night incident, Morant issued a statement saying he was taking “some time away” from basketball.

“I take full responsibility for my actions last night. I’m sorry to my family, teammates, coaches, fans, partners, the city of Memphis and the entire Grizzlies organization for letting you down.

“I’m going to take some time away to get help and work on learning better methods of dealing with stress and my overall well-being.”

The NBA has also opened its own investigation as taking guns on team road trips is a violation of league policy.

The incident came just days after a story in The Washington Post which alleged that Morant had punched a 17-year-old boy during a casual game at his Memphis home.

A security guard at a Memphis area shopping mall has also alleged that Morant threatened him during an incident with the athlete’s mother.

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