A Savannah police officer shot and killed a man who was allegedly attacking another officer Sunday morning, according to the GBI.
Officers were called to the area near Oglethorpe Avenue and McDonough Street just before 4 a.m. after someone reported two men fighting, according to a GBI news release. When they arrived, they found a man talking irrationally and carrying a makeshift weapon on Abercorn Street, the release states. Investigators said they found a 13-inch sharpened spike with an improvised handle at the scene.
Police tried to de-escalate the situation and get the man to put down the weapon, but he did not respond, according to the release. Officers eventually approached him as he walked along Abercorn Street toward Bay Street, but the man resisted and swung the weapon toward an officer, the GBI said.
Police then unsuccessfully tried to use a stun gun on the man, but he attacked an officer with his weapon instead, the release states. That’s when another officer shot the man, who has not been identified.
He was taken to a hospital, where he later died, according to the release. No officers were injured.
It was the fourth police shooting involving the Savannah Police Department this year and the third since March 26. All four ended with the suspect’s death.
The GBI will conduct an independent investigation. Once complete, the case file will be given to the Eastern Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for review.
It was the 37th officer-involved shooting the GBI has been asked to investigate this year. By the same time last year, there had been 19.
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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