Former Union City Police officer Luther Lewis reenacts how he shot 19-year-old Ariston Waiters twice in the back in this exclusive GBI video obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Channel 2 Action News.
There were no witnesses to the Dec. 14, 2011, shooting in Union City, south of Atlanta. Waiters ran from police after officers were called to the scene of teenagers fighting and reports of gunfire. Lewis chased Waiters to a tree line and ordered him to lie on the ground.
Lewis said the teen grabbed his Glock 17 handgun as he was being handcuffed. The officer fired two shots into Waiters’ back at close range, killing him.
The first supervising officer to reach the scene, however, told the AJC and Channel 2 that Lewis did not mention a struggle for his gun. Lewis told him that Waiters would not show his hands and he feared he might be concealing a gun. The teen was unarmed.
An expert hired by Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard in 2012 said Lewis’ shifting statements about what happened were not credible and inconsistent with the forensic evidence.
Last week, Howard reopened the criminal case against Lewis, who was not indicted for murder and other charges in May 2012. Read the AJC's special investigation here.
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