The Cleveland police officer who fired 49 of a staggering 137 shots directed at a black unarmed couple during a November 2012 incident has been acquitted of manslaughter charges.

According to The New York Times, officer Michael Brelo was allowed to walk early Saturday after Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge John P. O'Donnell apparently accepted his story he feared for his life, and he and his partner were being fired on by the victims.

No weapon was ever found in the Chevy Malibu shared by driver Timothy Russell and his passenger Malissa Williams, both of whom died. The 31-year-old Brelo was one of several officers firing on the vehicle, and as the bullets flew he jumped onto the hood of the car and fired up to 15 more shots at close range -- and possibly the fatal blasts.

At trial, prosecutors argued Brelo's actions crossed the line from justifiable to reckless when he climbed on top of the stalled vehicle and continued to fire in a middle school parking lot.

"We're asking our officers, based on their training, not to be compelled by fear to kill people when there's other reasonable, objectively reasonable, options available to you," said James Gutierrez, an assistant county prosecutor, in closing arguments. "And there was. He wanted to kill."

In recent times, the entire Cleveland police department has come under fire for some its practices, particularly as they seem to relate to African-Americans.

Last year, the Justice Department found a pattern of "unreasonable and unnecessary use of force" within the department. Just last November, 12-year-old city resident Tamir Rice was shot and killed by police in a park near his home after he was observed playing with a toy pistol. Captured on video, the shooting shows officers opening fire on the boy within seconds of arriving on the scene.

That shooting sparked outrage and protests across the city and the country. After Saturday's Brelo verdict was rendered, CNN reported tensions ran high outside the city courtroom, with many gathering protesters carrying signs and chanting, "No justice, no peace."