A Fulton County magistrate granted a $10,000 bond Thursday to a man who is charged with aggravated assault with a gun on two Atlanta police officers after his lawyer said police shot him seven times, primarily in the back, when he was fleeing.
The man’s lawyer, Tawanna K. Morgan, noted it was “absolutely rare” for a magistrate to set such a low bond when police allege someone threatened or attacked them — which normally would be evidence the person was a danger to the community — and indicated a questionable shooting.
“In these type of cases, there is always a concern about even receiving a bond,” she said.
Yuric J. Ussery, 22, was shot while fleeing police April 8 after two officers, who were part of a crime-suppression unit, tried to stop him for jaywalking in the high-crime Mechanicsville neighborhood. Instead, Ussery fled and the pursing officers said they shot him after he pointed a gun at them.
Morgan took issue with suggestion that her client pointed a pistol at police, noting his only arrest had been for being in possession of a stolen car when he was 17.
“It is definitely disputed that he ever pulled out a gun,” Morgan told The Atlanta Journal Constitution on Thursday. “What is not in dispute is the physical evidence of him being shot in his back, which is consistent with him still running.”
She contended her client fled the two plain-clothes officers after they confronted him aggressively for crossing McDaniel Street outside of a crosswalk without identifying themselves as police.
The police report said the two officers identified themselves as police during the foot chase.
“As the foot pursuit continued the suspect produced a pistol from his waistband and pointed the loaded weapon at the officers,” the report said. “The officers fearing for their lives and the safety of others discharged their City issued firearms striking the suspect. The suspect was then taken into custody and the suspect’s weapon was recovered.”
The two officers involved are still on administrative leave and “will remain on non-enforcement status until the preliminary investigation is complete,” Sgt. Greg Lyon told The AJC on Thursday.
Both officers have been on the force for less than three years. Officer Jimmy Alvaran was hired in May 2012 and Officer Sean Fagan was hired in February 2013, according to police records.
Atlanta police, who are investigating the shooting, initially reported that a pistol was found under a tree in the vicinity of the shooting. But police have not told The AJC if Ussery was shot in the back, how many times he was shot, how many officers or people witnessed the shooting, and the distance between the wounded Ussery and the recovered firearm.
Last week, Chief George Turner said the crime-suppression unit makes stops for quality-of-life-infractions, such as jaywalking, and that Ussery was walking down the middle of the busy road, not simply crossing the street.
Officers felt threatened by the mere presence of a weapon — regardless of whether he pointed it — and a civilian witness heard officers shout Ussery was armed, which bolstered the officers’ version of events, Turner said.
The semi-automatic pistol police recovered at the scene was jammed with a bullet, which could have happened if Ussery fired or tried to chamber a round, Turner said. He suspected Ussery ran because he was on probation and illegally had a weapon that had been reported stolen last year.
Mawuli Mel Davis, a senior attorney involved in the case, said the fact police did not report finding any spent shell casings or gunshot residue on Ussery’s hands is strong evidence didn’t fire a weapon.
“The fact that the chief would say, ‘Maybe he fired it,’ that is deceptive to even say that,” Davis said. “That is a smoke screen and that is the very reason that APD should not be investigating itself because they have a vested interest in this being a ‘good shooting.’”
Nationwide there has been a movement to have outside law enforcement agencies investigate police shootings. The approach recently has been embraced in DeKalb County, where the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has been called in to investigate officer-involved shootings.
The APD, citing the investigation, declined to further comment. Late Wednesday, Ussery was booked into the Fulton jail after spending seven days at Grady Memorial Hospital. He has lost the use of one arm, at least temporarily, and now needs a cane to walk, his lawyers said.
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