GBI Taking Over Investigation of DeKalb Officer-Involved Shooting

The Georgia Bureau of Investigations will take over the investigation into the officer-involved shooting death of an unarmed naked man at a Chamblee apartment complex on Monday.

According to WSB-TV, witnesses said that apart from being naked, the man was acting erratically, lying in the dirt or swinging from the railing on his balcony at The Heights at Chamblee apartments on Chamblee Tucker Road. An eyewitnesses recorded footage of the man’s strange actions, footage which the station broadcast.

A DeKalb County police officer, described only as a white man with seven years’ experience with the force, responded to the scene in reference to reports that the naked man was banging on strangers’ doors. Witnesses told WSB-TV that the naked man approached the officer with his hands up, but then charged at him.

DeKalb County Police Chief Dr. Cedric L. Alexander said during a Monday press conference that the officer took a step back and ordered the man to halt before pulling out his service weapon and firing two shots. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.

Alexander added that the officer was carrying the full complement of police equipment, including a taser, and said that officers receive a rudimentary instruction on dealing with mentally ill people during their academy training.

The chief said that in order to ensure complete transparency of the investigative process in light of recent officer-involved shootings elsewhere in the country, he was immediately transferring jurisdiction of the matter to the GBI.

The officer involved in the shooting has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, Alexander said.