A 36-year-old man was shot and killed by Savannah police as the man was exiting the vehicle during a traffic stop July 17, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
The original July 18 report said the man had allegedly pointed a gun at police during a traffic stop, but the Wednesday update did not mention that the gun was ever pointed.
While officers were talking to the unidentified driver outside the vehicle, a passenger, identified as Maurice Sentel Mincey, of Savannah was "moving around inside the vehicle when officers asked Mincey to stop moving and show his hands," according to the July 18 GBI release.
According to information released by GBI Wednesday, "the body camera shows that Mincey removed a gun from his waistband and placed it between his legs while seated in the passenger seat of the vehicle."
The release went on to say, "Savannah Police Officer Thomas Love, who was standing at the driver’s door, commanded Mincey to put his hands in the air. Mincey disregarded commands, opened the passenger door while grabbing the gun, and abruptly began to exit the vehicle in the direction of another officer positioned on the passenger side of the vehicle. As Mincey was exiting the vehicle, Officer Love shot Mincey."
An autopsy was performed and confirms Mincey died from gunshot wounds.
According to the July 17 release from GBI, SPD requested their assistance at approximately 10:19 p.m., 49 minutes after the traffic stop was initiated.
According to GBI's preliminary investigation, SPD stopped the man near East Bolton Street and Waters Avenue around 9:30 p.m. Saturday night, after the driver of the vehicle allegedly failed to stop at a stop sign.
This marks the 54th officer-involved shooting that GBI has been requested to investigate this year. No Savannah police officers were injured.
The GBI will conduct an independent investigation, and upon completion, it will be provided to the Chatham County District Attorney’s Office for review.
No officers were injured in this incident.
This officer-involved shooting comes on the heels of the death of William Zachary Harvey, who died on April 2 in a Savannah Police Department interview room while being questioned in connection to an aggravated assault.
Five Savannah police officers were fired as a result of the investigation into Harvey's death.
Will Peebles is the enterprise reporter for Savannah Morning News. He can be reached at wpeebles@gannett.com and @willpeeblessmn on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: 'Mincey disregarded commands:' GBI investigates fatal Savannah police officer-involved shooting
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