Police shootings have come under sharp public scrutiny in recent weeks following incidents in New York and Atlanta that led to the deaths of, respectively, an unarmed bridegroom and an elderly woman. Not only have the involved officers been chastised for their actions, but so have internal affairs investigators whom critics claim are moving too slowly.

That criticism didn’t seem to apply to the investigation of a Dec. 1 police shooting of an allegedly unarmed community college student in Wilmington, N.C. Within two weeks, one of the involved officers was fired and charged with murder.

Or not.

Within 24 hours of the indictment, the foreman of the grand jury told the court that he accidentally checked the wrong box on the indictment form. The murder charge has since been rescinded.

For the latest developments in the N.C. shooting, visit Wilmington attorney Tom Kerner’s civil rights blog.

It is unclear what lesson should be drawn from the N.C. indictment/​undo. Does it show that investigations need to move slowly to prevent errors? Does it mean the cops involved really were blameless? Or does it indicate that it’s difficult to hold law enforcement officers accountable for wrongful actions, even if those actions result in the death of one of the citizens that officers are forsworn to serve and protect?

One thing that is clear is that reports of questionable police shootings are becoming far too frequent, as followers of Radley Balko and Tim Lynch’s work already know. Here’s Radley’s excellent report on the militarization of American police units. And here is Cato’s map of botched police raids, which apparently may soon include new pushpins for Atlanta and Wilmington.