The father of a man who died after being shot by a police officer in DeKalb County said his son was talented but had problems he couldn’t overcome.
Jim Lappe said son, Jason Lappe, 44, was on a troubled path due to drug use, Channel 2 Action News reported.
“He had a drug problem,” Jim Lappe said, “was a drug addict and this has been going on for years.”
Jason Lappe was shot by a Dunwoody officer Saturday after he robbed a Kroger in Johns Creek and then drove to a shopping center on Winters Chapel Road, police said.
Johns Creek police said surveillance video from the Kroger shows Lappe using a fake beard and a BB gun to rob the store.
A witness called police and followed Lappe for miles. Dunwoody police intercepted him in the parking lot.
According to the GBI, the officer fired after Jason Lappe didn’t follow police commands and exited his car. He later died at Grady Memorial Hospital.
“This tragedy, we believe, was a police-assisted suicide on his part,” Jim Lappe said. “We hold no grudge against the officer who killed him."
The father said Jason Lappe had been in and out of prison and rehab for years, describing him as “conflicted.”
“He had no intention of hurting anybody,” Jim Lappe said, “but he couldn’t cope any longer.”
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