A former transit police officer who shot an unarmed man at the train station Auckland was found guilty of manslaughter on Thursday, capping a racially charged case that has raised fears in the Bay Area of possible violence after the verdict.

Prosecutors accused the former employee intentionally fired a pistol when he tried to handcuff Oscar J. Grant III in the first day of New Year 2009. Johannes Mehserle, 28, tearfully revealed that the fire was a tragic accident occurs, when he mistakenly grabbed his gun, and not an electric Taser weapon during the fight with Grant.

The shooting was captured on video a few witnesses. Mehserle, who is white, fired one round into the rear portion of the grant, which was black, was lying face down on the apron. Mehserle resigned a week after the murder.