WILMINGTON - Eighteen New Hanover County residents gave former Deputy Chris Long the opportunity to move on with his life Wednesday.

After more than two hours of discussions, a grand jury refused to indict the former sheriff's deputy on manslaughter charges for the Dec. 1 shooting death of Peyton Strickland, a college student from Durham. With that, state Attorney General Roy Cooper declared the case closed.

Time seemed to freeze as the judge read the decision. Members of Long's family, squeezed together on a courtroom bench, held their breath.

"No true bill," said Richmond County Judge Michael Beale.

Long, 35, doubled over and sobbed with relief. His wife clutched his hand. His mother whimpered.

Strickland's father, Don, sat perfectly still for a few moments, then slipped out the back as Long's family gathered in a tangle of hugs.

The Strickland family later issued a brief statement: "Our unarmed 18-year-old son Peyton was killed when Chris Long, a deputy sheriff, fired three bullets from a submachine gun through the front door of Peyton's house while he was answering the unlocked door. The failure of the grand jury to indict Long on any charge compounds our family's tragedy."

In December, a different New Hanover County grand jury declined to indict Long on a second-degree murder charge.

Law enforcement professionals in North Carolina considered Wednesday's decision a victory. Police organizations had watched the case closely, fearing that it could result in undue scrutiny of their split-second decisions. No officer in the state has been criminally prosecuted for killing someone in the line of duty since at least 2000.

"Today's decision is welcome news for all of us," said John Midgette, the director of the N.C. Police Benevolent Association. "The citizens spoke."

Able to trust judgment

The grand jury's refusal to indict Long gave officers more confidence in their immunity from criminal charges, particularly in New Hanover County.

"It clears the road for emergency response teams to use their best judgment, as flawed as it sometimes can be," said Frank Snyder, a Wilmington doctor who had worked alongside Long on the sheriff's department's emergency response team. "Everyone involved in this believes that [shooting Strickland] was a mistake now. But I wouldn't doubt that something like this would happen again."

In an affidavit, Long said the emergency response team of the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office had been called to search for a stolen PlayStation 3 video machine and arrest Strickland on robbery and assault charges. Long said deputies had been warned Strickland probably housed an arsenal of guns that could penetrate their body armor. Long said he mistook the sound of the unit's battering ram for gunshots when he shot Strickland through the closed front door of the home the student was renting in Wilmington.

Beale gave both Long and Don Strickland permission to address the grand jury -- a rare move. During his appearance Tuesday, Strickland countered Long's assessment of the threat Peyton Strickland posed, said Patrick Murphy, a prosecutor from the state Attorney General's Office. He didn't elaborate, and Don Strickland was unavailable for comment.

Long's law career over

Long's life had been on hold since the shooting. He lost his job a week later, ending a 10-year career spent primarily with the sheriff's emergency response team. Until recently, his family has gotten by mostly with help from friends and former co-workers.

"What Chris got was probably one of the greatest gifts he never anticipated," said Snyder, his friend. "He had all of his friends and all of the people at church gather around him and support him."

Michael McGuinness, one of Long's attorneys, said Long has found steady work. He knows his career in law enforcement is over, friends say.

McGuinness said he hopes Long's family can begin to heal now.

"I think all they want to do is get home and have lunch and start to get on with their lives," McGuinness said.

The Stricklands are trying to figure out how to get on with theirs. On Tuesday, Don Strickland leaned into a courtroom bench and thought about the summer he was supposed to have with his son.

He and Peyton had planned a monthlong fly-fishing and motorcycle trip to Montana.

(News researcher Brooke Cain contributed to this report.)