OAKLAND (California), Jan 15: A former police officer has been charged with murder for the fatal shooting of an unarmed and allegedly restrained black man in a racially charged case that has outraged residents and community leaders and set off violent protests.

Newly released court documents allege that Johannes Mehserle, who was charged on Tuesday, shot 22-year-old Oscar Grant while Grant had his hands behind his back and another officer was kneeling on his neck.

Meanwhile, about 50 people were evacuated from their homes after Mehserle’s parents found two suspicious packages on their porch on Wednesday evening, the Napa County Sheriff’s department said.

Bomb squad officers evacuated the neighbourhood while trying to determine the contents of the packages. When authorities could not determine what was inside, they destroyed them. The residents were then allowed to return home.

Mehserle and his family have received death threats since the New Year’s Day shooting.Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff made the rare decision to file a murder charge against a police officer for an on-duty incident.

“At this point, what I feel the evidence indicates, is an unlawful killing done by an intentional act and from the evidence we have there’s nothing that would mitigate that to something lower than a murder,” Orloff said at a news conference. He said he would not speculate on whether the charge would end up being first-degree murder or second-degree murder.

Witnesses said Grant was lying face down on a train platform at a station in Oakland when the 27-year-old white officer shot him in the back.

Grant and others had been pulled off a train after reports of fighting, as New Year’s Eve revellers were returning home after midnight.

Allegations that Grant’s hands were behind his back and another officer was kneeling on him were contained in an Oakland police officer’s request to issue an arrest warrant.—AP