The GBI is investigating the death of a Waycross man who died in an officer-involved shooting after family members say they called for help with his diabetes medication.
According to the Florida Times-Union newspaper in Jacksonville, two Waycross police officers were sent to a mobile home park on Reed Street in the southeast Georgia town around 4:30 p.m. Friday on reports of a man threatening suicide.
When the officers arrived, the man, identified as Jack Lamar Roberson , had a knife that he refused to put down, Waycross Mayor Clarence Billups told the Times-Union.
According to Billups, Roberson, 43, was shot when he lunged at officers with the knife.
Family members, however, disputed that account in an interview with a Jacksonville television station.
"He didn't have nothing in his hands at any time or period at all before they came, any time while they were here, anything," Roberson's fiancé, Alicia Herron, told WTLV-TV. "They just came in and shot him."
Herron told the station that she was worried about medication Roberson took for his diabetes, and called 911 to request an ambulance, but instead of paramedics, officers arrived at the home.
The officers have been placed on standard administrative leave pending the outcome of the GBI investigation.
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