Cellphone video of Wednesday’s deadly police shooting in Marietta appears to show a Cobb County officer fire about a dozen rounds at a driver accused of fleeing law enforcement.
Devonte Dawayne Brown, 28, of Austell, died at a hospital following the chase and subsequent shooting, according to the GBI. One officer suffered minor injuries after being hit by Brown’s car in the parking lot, officials said. Both Cobb police and the GBI said a handgun was recovered from Brown’s vehicle, but authorities did not say if Brown pointed the gun at officers.
On the video, which was shared with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, officers could be heard telling him to put his hands up before a Cobb officer opened fire through the driver’s side window.
The chase began shortly before 4 p.m. when officers spotted Brown’s car driving erratically and attempted a traffic stop, Cobb Police Chief Tim Cox said. Police initially said the vehicle was stolen, but Cox later clarified that the man’s dangerous driving was the reason for the stop.
Brown pulled over when police first tried to stop him near South Marietta Parkway and Powder Springs Road, but then “refused to comply and sped away,” GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles said Thursday in a news release. The chase continued along Powder Springs Road, before several police vehicles surrounded Brown’s car outside a Marietta automotive shop.
Police at the scene said officers tried to contain the car, but Brown continued to drive away, hitting several police vehicles in the process. The cellphone video appears to show Brown’s airbags activate after his car and the police vehicles collided.
Credit: Ben Hendren
Credit: Ben Hendren
The cellphone footage appears to show Brown try to pull back out onto Powder Springs Road before being surrounded again.
Police had previously encountered Brown on June 3, when they charged him with a count of obstruction in connection with another attempted traffic stop, according to a Cobb County arrest warrant. Officers spotted Brown’s car along Ridge Run in Marietta and tried to pull it over “in reference to an active domestic dispute,” the warrant said. The details of that dispute are not clear.
According to his warrant, Brown “placed the vehicle in drive and fled the scene of the stop.” It is not clear if the June 3 traffic stop resulted in injuries, but police said no one else was hurt during Thursday’s chase.
“We are thankful no motorists or pedestrians were injured,” Cox said, “and we will continue to provide all of our personnel and other needed resources to the GBI in the furtherance of their independent investigation.”
A Cobb police spokeswoman declined to say if the officer who shot Brown has been placed on administrative leave pending the GBI’s investigation.
Traffic was shut down in both directions for hours as multiple agencies responded to the police shooting. Drivers were urged to take Atlanta Road or South Cobb Drive to get around the delays, which caused issues for school buses trying to take students home. Marietta City Schools diverted some buses to Park Street Elementary, holding students there until they could be picked up by their parents, the school district said.
Brown’s death was the 62nd police shooting the GBI was asked to investigate this year and the second fatal shooting involving a Cobb County police officer, records show. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also tracks officer-involved shootings that don’t involve the GBI, and those numbers sometimes differ from the GBI’s tally.
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