( CNN ) -- A Virgin Islands jury has found a veteran Alcohol , Tobacco , Firearms and Explosives special agent not guilty of using excessive force when he intervened and fatally shot a man during a domestic argument in 2008 . ATF Special Agent William G. Clark was cleared of charges Thursday in a case that enraged many federal law enforcement officers who said Clark was heroically coming to the defense of a battered woman . `` ATF has been steadfast in its support of Special Agent Clark and wholeheartedly agrees with the jury 's verdict , '' said Thomas Brandon , ATF deputy director , in a written statement . ATF officials said Clark was confronted by Marcus Sukow on September 7 , 2008 , and `` took immediate action to defend himself and others by discharging his firearm to stop the attack . '' The incident occurred outside a St. Thomas condominium where all of the main participants were neighbors . While the broad outline of the shooting is undisputed , two government investigations came to starkly different conclusions . A federal government multiple-agency investigation of the incident unanimously concluded the shooting was justified . The ATF even returned Clark 's gun and badge and put him back to work . But a Virgin Islands Police Department investigation prompted prosecutors to charge Clark with second degree murder . Local prosecutors evidently were heavily influenced by two points : First , the dead man was armed only with a flashlight ; second , Clark shot him five times . According to a police affidavit , Clark was leaving his condo when he encountered Sukow and his girlfriend . They had been drinking and were having a `` disagreement . '' Federal authorities were so incensed by the Virgin Island 's prosecution of Clark -- and so concerned other federal agents could similarly be prosecuted -- that they removed all ATF agents from the Virgin Islands in 2008 , a policy that continues today , the agency said . The U.S. Virgin Islands is an unincorporated territory of the United States . 2010 : Federal agents nationwide eye ATF agent murder trial . CNN 's Mike Ahlers contributed to this report .
The charges against Special Agent William Henry Clark enraged many federal law officers . He had engaged in a domestic dispute in 2008 . A federal jury cleared him , but Virgin Islands prosecutors charged him with murder .