Darren Wilson, the police officer who fatally shot black 18-year-old Michael Brown nearly four months ago, has resigned from the Ferguson police department, his attorney said on Saturday.

His resignation, that according to his lawyer is effective immediately, comes amid tumultuous protests across the US over the grand jury decision that cleared Wilson of murder charges.

Read below the letter of his resignation that was published online:

“I, Darren Wilson, hereby resign my commission as a police officer with the City of Ferguson effective immediately. I have been told that my continued employment may put the residents and police officers of the City of Ferguson at risk, which is a circumstance that I cannot allow. For obvious reasons, I wanted to wait until the grand jury made their decision before I officially made my decision to resign. It was my hope to continue in police work, but the safety of other police officers and the community are of paramount importance to me. It is my hope that my resignation will allow the community to heal. I would like to thank all of my supporters and fellow officers throughout this process.”