To hear Codarrius Brewer tell it, he was all that stood between an alleged gunman and his target, a Clayton County school bus.
Clayton police now say Brewer's account, which captured national headlines in May, was an elaborate hoax. But the 20-year-old's attorney said his client's confession was coerced by investigators, who charged him Friday with falsely reporting a crime and obstruction.
According to Brewer, he and his uncle were outside the morning of May 14 when they spotted a sniper positioned behind a neighbor's backyard with a Marlin .22-caliber rifle aimed at the bus, which was en route to Kemp Elementary School.
Brewer told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he yelled out, causing the suspect to drop the rifle and flee on foot. The witness said he chased the suspect, but the man produced another gun, fired at him and got away.
An arrest warrant alleges that Brewer "admitted to making up this story to make it appear that he was a hero and to receive a reward from the governor." Police said Brewer, who was released Saturday on $5,900 bond, planted the rifle along with a notebook containing the numbers of five school buses.
But Brewer's attorney, Charles Lea, said his client's confession was made after detectives threatened to send his uncle, David Dillard, back to jail. Dillard, convicted for murder, was paroled in 2007, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections. He has not been charged in connection with the alleged sniper ruse.
When asked if additional arrests were imminent, Clayton police spokeswoman Chandi Ashmore said only that the investigation is continuing. "They're looking at everything, from all different angles," Ashmore said.
More than 75 officers were assigned to the case, escorting school buses to and from four area schools and canvassing the Hampton neighborhood where the incident occurred. Clayton police said they have not yet tabulated the cost of the investigation.
The Clayton Sheriff's Office and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were enlisted to track down the suspect, who was described as a "light-skinned black or white male" between the ages of 18 and 25. Investigators said at the time they believed he was a student.
According to his Facebook page, Brewer graduated from Cedar Grove High School in Ellenwood in 2010. The self-described "hopeless romantic" posted on June 29 that he was engaged to be married.
Neither Brewer or his uncle responded to requests for comment.
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