Bodycam Footage Released In Shooting Of Georgia State Trooper

EAST ATLANTA, GA — The Atlanta Police Department late Wednesday evening released body cam footage relating to the shooting of a Georgia State Patrol trooper and the killing of the person accused in the shooting.

The shooting took place on Jan. 18 at the site of the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, where a joint task force was conducting a clearing operation to remove people from the site.

Atlanta Police released four clips displaying its response to the shooting. Patch has reviewed all four clips.

The GBI said in the past the shooting itself was not recorded on footage because officers near the scene were not wearing body cameras but the aftermath of the shooting was captured. The GBI confirmed to Patch Thursday the cameras they were referring to in the aftermath were from the APD.

The proposed site for the training center is located near Constitution and Key roads. The property will sit on land that spans 385 acres and is owned by the City of Atlanta near Intrenchment Creek, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said in the past.

Protesters have been clashing with police over the training center's construction and vying to protect the forest on the land.

The protests turned deadly when the trooper was shot the morning of Jan. 18, and the person accused of shooting him died after being shot by authorities.

Manuel Esteban Paez Teran, 26, was identified at the time as the person who shot the trooper during the clearing operation, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Manuel was a nonbinary person who went by the name Tortuguita and used they/it pronouns.

Bodycam Footage

The footage released Wednesday is from Atlanta police officers who were near the scene and responded to the shooting.

One video clip opens with officers indicating they see movement inside of a red tent. They proceed to give commands for anyone inside of the red or green tents to exit. However, once officers walk to the tents, they realize no one is inside.

The officers walk further through the woods, and moments later, what sounds like gunshots and fireworks can be heard. The officers pause and take cover around trees.

Later in the clip, the police sergeant on the scene can be heard saying, "Confirmed gunfire."

In a second clip, officers can be seen moving toward a green tent in the woods. Authorities can be heard on the police radio confirming there is an officer down. Atlanta police officers start to quickly inch closer to the tent to set up a perimeter surrounding the tent.

In chatter to one another, officers said they were unsure if the noise they heard was a firecracker or a gunshot. A Georgia State Patrol SWAT member can be heard on the police radio confirming an officer had been shot. Authorities can be heard on the radio saying there was no active shooter confirmed, and the suspect was barricaded inside of a tent.

In the clip, a loud noise rings out, sounding like a gunshot, but it is unclear if it was a gunshot. Moments later, police can be heard shouting commands as they believe a person is inside of the tent. The conclusion of the footage shows no one was inside of the tent.

A third clip shows the same chain of events but from a different officer's body camera.

It is unclear if this is the scene where the trooper was shot and the person accused in the shooting was killed.

In a fourth clip, once the scene is cleared and officers are trying to fully understand what happened, an officer is seen in the footage asking, "Did they shoot their own man?"

The GBI, the investigating agency in the case, released a statement Wednesday responding to the body cam release.

"The GBI is committed to a full, complete and accurate investigation. Yesterday, the Atlanta Police Department released body cam video of their officers who were involved in the joint operation to clear the site of the future City of Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. In those videos, at least one statement exists where an officer speculates that the trooper was shot by another officer in crossfire. Speculation is not evidence. Our investigation does not support that statement," the GBI said.

"When the investigation is complete, all videos will be provided. One of the rationales behind not publicly releasing videos during active investigations is that witness interviews are a key way to obtain information regarding facts surrounding an incident. Memory and perception are fragile, and a myriad of factors can influence perception and memory, including an individual’s background, experiences, the turmoil and emotional impact of a significant incident, as well as the viewing of a video before giving a statement. That is the rationale behind Georgia’s law which allows agencies to exempt the public disclosure of videos in an active investigation."

The GBI said its initial assessment of the shooting remains valid.

Protesting the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center

The training center has been the focus of ongoing conflict between law enforcement and environmentalists who have been opposing the expansive project for at least a year.

According to its website, a group known as the Forest Defenders say building the training center will raise the cost of living and will destroy the forest.

The GBI said around 25 campsites were removed during the Jan. 18 clearing operation. Mortar style fireworks, multiple edged weapons, pellet rifles, gas masks and a blow torch were also recovered, the GBI said.

A subsequent protest was held on Jan. 21 in downtown Atlanta in the name of Tortuguita, the person accused in the shooting of the state trooper.

Violence erupted near Ellis Street during the downtown protest — a subsection of the larger demonstration.

Masked activists dressed in all black threw rocks and lit fireworks in front of a skyscraper that houses the Atlanta Police Foundation, shattering large glass windows. They then lit a police cruiser on fire, smashed more windows and vandalized walls with anti-police graffiti as stunned tourists scattered. Six people were arrested.

Five people were arrested on Dec. 13, 2022, on charges of domestic terrorism in what authorities said were a string of criminal acts. Barricades blocking some of the training center's entrances were removed, and police found explosive devices, gasoline and road flairs in the area, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said at the time.

Opponents of the training center say the training center involves cutting down so many trees that it would be environmentally damaging. They also oppose spending so much money on a facility they say will be used to practice “urban warfare.”

According to the Atlanta Police Foundation, the initial phase of the training center is expected to open in the fourth quarter this year.

The Associated Press contributed writing.