The girlfriend of an armed DeKalb County man shot by a cop responding to an emergency call told reporters Friday the officer never identified himself before firing three fatal bullets into her boyfriend's gut.
April Edwards, in her first public comments since the Dec. 29 shooting, said that she called 911 because a roommate had stabbed her. That roommate left the apartment after police were called.
She said she was inside a bedroom with her boyfriend, Kevin Davis, when they heard gunshots outside. Davis grabbed a pistol after seeing his pit bull limp past the bedroom door, Edwards said.
Davis was unaware that a police officer was outside, she said. He would have never armed himself had he known, she continued.
But other witnesses said they did hear DeKalb Police Officer Joseph Pitts announce himself. One neighbor said Pitts also knocked on the apartment door before firing any shots. Another said they heard the officer tell the 44-year-old to drop his weapon, followed immediately by gun shots.
Police point to those witness accounts in defending Pitts, a three-year veteran of the DeKalb force with no prior shootings on his record. Davis had no criminal record.
DeKalb Public Safety Director Cedric Alexander told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently the officer felt threatened and fired in defense. According to the police narrative, Pitts heard shouting inside the apartment when he arrived at 8:50 p.m. Edwards said Davis was treating her stab wound at the time.
According to police, Pitts knocked on the door then entered to investigate. He was confronted by Davis’ pit bull and retreated outside, shooting the dog after it followed him into the apartment breezeway, the incident report states.
Moments later, an “angry” Davis appeared at the door, where he was shot multiple times after ignoring commands to drop his pistol, Alexander said.
Edwards, still in the back bedroom, said she heard Davis confront the cop, asking him why he had shot his dog. Then, she heard three more gunshots.
She rushed to the front door, where she saw her boyfriend slumped over. She said Pitts, standing outside, was silent as she tended to Davis.
“They shot me April,” Edwards said Davis told her. She then passed out, waking up in the hospital. Davis was pronounced dead on Dec. 31 at Grady Memorial Hospital.
Edwards shared her account Friday with GBI agents, who are investigating the incident.
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