miguel_exposito.jpgMIAMI (AP) _ Prosecutors have cleared a Miami police officer in the controversial 2011 shooting of a motorist in the city's Little Haiti section.

The Miami Herald reports that Officer Reinaldo Goyo was legally justified in shooting driver Travis McNeil. McNeil was shot after reaching down for something during a traffic stop. No weapon was found.

The Miami-Dade County State Attorney's office concluded that Goyo had a reasonable fear that McNeil may have been reaching for a gun.

McNeil's shooting was one of seven involving black men in a seven-month span in inner-city Miami neighborhoods that triggered an ongoing Justice Department investigation and calls for then-Chief Miguel Exposito to resign.

Exposito eventually was fired by the city commission for disobeying city manager orders. He is appealing that decision.