MONTGOMERY, Ala — An Alabama police officer will not face charges for killing a man he mistook for the gunman in a mall shooting, the state’s attorney general announced Tuesday, drawing outrage from the slain man’s family who said the officer jumped to conclusions when he saw a young black man with a gun.

An officer shot 21-year-old Emantic Bradford, Jr. while responding to an earlier shooting on Thanksgiving night at a mall in Hoover.

State Attorney General Steve Marshall announced Tuesday that his investigation concluded “the officer did not commit a crime” and that he would not present the case to a grand jury. Marshall said he considered the matter closed.

A 26-page report released by Marshall’s office said the officer mistakenly believed Bradford fired the earlier shots. But the report also said the Hoover officer, whose name has not been released, was still justified in shooting him because of the threat he posed.

The report said the officer saw Bradford running toward the scene with a gun and believed he was trying to kill the shooting victim or harm others. The shooting victim was actually Bradford’s friend, with whom he had been at the mall that evening.

The report also stated that Bradford, who had a gun drawn, “posed an immediate deadly threat to persons in the area.”

Bradford’s family reacted with anger Tuesday.

“The attorney general, he’s in bed with Hoover. Bottom line. He covered it up. He sanitized it just so the officer could get off with murdering my son,” Emantic Bradford Sr. told news reporters.

Caravan of 1,700 migrants camped on border near Texas

MEXICO CITY — A caravan of about 1,700 Central American migrants was camped Tuesday in the Mexican border city of Piedras Negras, just west of Eagle Pass, Texas.

While previous caravans had preferred the border city of Tijuana, the relatively open section of the border around Eagle Pass is marked mainly by the Rio Grande and lacks the long sections of high barriers found at Tijuana.

Still, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security vowed in a statement that the “lawless caravan” would not be allowed in.

Images from local media showed U.S. agents with riot gear and shields standing on a bridge separating Eagle Pass, Texas, and Piedras Negras.

An improvised shelter was set up for about 1,700 migrants at an unused factory, and local officials said the migrants had been given sleeping mats, blankets and food.

Sexual assault complaint names former president of Costa Rica

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — Former President Oscar Arias, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was enveloped in scandal Tuesday after a sexual assault complaint was brought against him by a nuclear disarmament activist.

Arias denied the allegation.

According to the publication Semanario Universidad, the woman said the incident took place Dec. 1, 2014, at the ex-president’s home in San Jose, where she had come for a meeting related to her cause.

She told the publication that Arias grabbed her from behind, touched her breasts, began to kiss her and penetrated her with his fingers.

According to Semanario Universidad, the woman said Arias proposed meeting elsewhere, and she used that as an excuse to leave.

May vows no return to hard border for Ulster, Ireland

LONDON — British Prime Minister Theresa May told business leaders in Northern Ireland on Tuesday that she is seeking changes to the U.K.’s withdrawal agreement with the European Union, but not the total removal of the Irish border provision that is the most contentious part of the deal.

Seeking to ease fears about the return of customs posts and vehicle checks, May said during a visit to Belfast that the British government is committed to preventing the construction of a physical border between EU member Ireland and the U.K.’s Northern Ireland after Britain leaves the European Union.

She also emphasized the government’s support for the Good Friday agreement, the 1998 treaty that largely ended decades of violence in Northern Ireland.

Confederate emblem stays on Miss. flag as bills die

JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi lawmakers are again killing bills to remove the Confederate battle emblem from the last flag in the U.S. to display it.

But they also rejected measures that would force universities opposed to the emblem to fly the banner.

The emblem — a red field topped by a blue tilted cross and dotted by 13 white stars — has appeared on Mississippi’s flag since 1894. Critics say it’s racist; those who oppose removing it say it’s a historic symbol.

Mississippians voted to keep the flag in a 2001 statewide election.

For the past several years, multiple bills have been filed to redesign the Mississippi flag. More than a dozen were filed this year, and they all died when they were not considered before a Tuesday deadline. It was the final day for House and Senate committees to accept or reject general bills.

Hope seen for deal on funds for border security

WASHINGTON — Capitol Hill talks to resolve an impasse over President Donald Trump’s demands for billions of dollars for his long-sought border wall are inching forward. Lawmakers are focused more on forging agreement among themselves and less on satisfying Trump.

One such sign came Tuesday when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he’s not seeking Trump’s blessing in advance of striking a deal on border security funding.

McConnell said that negotiators “ought to reach an agreement, and then we’ll hope that the president finds it worth signing.”

During the recent 35-day partial federal shutdown, McConnell insisted that Trump’s buy-in would be needed before any agreement could be reached.

Sentence: A southwestern Michigan man who fatally shot six strangers and wounded two others in between picking up passengers for Uber in Kalamazoo was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison with no chance of parole.

Jason Dalton, 48, pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder last month.

In France: The yellow vest protest movement joined ranks Tuesday with a major union, a first for both, in a day of nationwide protests over taxes and buying power that brought tens of thousands into the streets.

Brief scuffles did erupt during the mostly calm Paris demonstration, and police fired tear gas.