Gwinnett County police insisted Wednesday officers had no other choice but to shoot the 15-year-old boy who threatened them with a machete.
"As soon as he was shot, he was still fighting," Cpl. Edwin Ritter told the AJC.
Dawntrae Williams died Monday evening after being shot five times by officers outside his home near Buford. Williams, who had numerous mental illnesses, had threatened his grandmother, two younger siblings and a therapist with a machete Monday afternoon, prompting the therapist to call 911.
In a recording of that 911 call, released Tuesday, both women can be heard pleading with the teen to put the weapon down. A member of a crisis team can also be heard on the line.
“Dawntrae, put the machete down. Dawntrae stop," the therapist said a few minutes into the call. “He has a machete in his hand, and he’s trying to hit us with it.”
The therapist also told the operator that the people in the home were locked inside a room, while Dawntrae was beating against the door with the machete.
“If he comes with the machete at the officers, there might be a different outcome," the 911 operator said during the call.
But Williams' grandmother and caregiver, Anita Harris, insists officers did not have to use deadly force against the teen. In a statement to the AJC, Harris said the incident was the result of a disagreement between Williams and the therapist, which enraged the teen. Harris told Channel 2 Action News her grandson, who had his photo taken over the weekend with Santa Claus, would never hurt anyone.
Monday was the second time in less than a week that officers arrived at the Windward Gate Lane home, which borders Hall County. In the two months since Williams has lived in Georgia, officers in both Gwinnett and Hall counties have been called to the home to handle the teen's outbursts, police said.
On Dec. 13, Hall County deputies and firefighters were sent to the home after Williams allegedly took prescription medication belonging to a sibling and hit his grandmother with a pool cue. Williams was taken to the hospital that night in a patrol car, Sgt. Stephen Wilbanks with the Hall County Sheriff's Office told the AJC.
Monday afternoon, Williams' therapist came to the home to counsel the teen, who became enraged over a disagreement with the woman.
Shortly after Gwinnett officers arrived at the home Monday afternoon, Williams ran "in a full dead sprint" toward uniformed officers with a machete, Ritter said. The officers ordered the teen to drop the weapon, but he refused, prompting the officers to fire, police said.
Harris contends the teen dropped the weapon when he was asked.
"Dawntrae dropped the machete on the front porch and the officers told him to come, he jumped off the steps and proceeded to walk toward the officers," Harris said.
Harris said she has been trying to get more help for Dawntrae, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and ADHD.
Ritter said after Williams was shot, officers had to then handcuff him because he remained combative. Furthermore, Harris has publicly made statements that don't match what she previously told police, Ritter said Wednesday.
Officers were forced to use their guns, rather than a stun gun, because of the severity of the situation, Ritter said.
“We don’t deploy less lethal force when deadly force is presented," Ritter said.
Williams' story highlights a lack of resources for those with mental illnessess, Bill Kissel, president of Georgia's branch of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, told Channel 2 Action News.
“It is a shame that officers are having to intervene at the back end of a situation," Kissel said.
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