U.S. Attorney's Office Will Review Smyrna Police Shooting

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia will conduct its own review of an officer-involved shooting in Smyrna which left an unarmed black man dead.

Acting U.S. Attorney John Horn confirmed to the family of 23-year-old Nicholas Thomas that his office would begin investigating the incident on Wednesday, the Marietta Daily Journal reports. Horn declined to comment further on the decision.

The move comes nearly two weeks after a Cobb County jury cleared Smyrna police Sgt. Kenneth Owens of any wrongdoing for shooting Thomas, who was allegedly driving a car at officers who had come to arrest him for a probation violation on March 24.

More on the Killing of Nicholas Thomas From Smyrna-Vinings Patch:

• Man Killed by Smyrna Police Was Shot in Back: Autopsy
• Smyrna Police Officer Who Shot Man Returns to Work
• Funeral of Man Killed by Smyrna Police Announced
• Smyrna Officer Involved in Fatal Shooting Faced Assault, Battery Charges in ‘99: Report
• Vigil For Man Killed by Smyrna Police Draws Hundreds of Supporters
• Prayer Vigil Planned For Man Killed by Smyrna Police
• Smyrna Police Identify Officers Involved in Fatal Shooting Incident
• Protesters Disrupt Smyrna-Area Restaurants After Police Shooting
• Smyrna Police Chief: Cobb PD, DA’s Office Will Investigate Officer-Involved Killing
• Family of Man Slain By Smyrna Police Want Independent Investigation
• UPDATE: Police Say Vinings Shooting Victim Drove Vehicle At Officers, One Officer Opened Fire

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Cobb County Police Department investigated the shooting and determined that Owens was justified in pulling the trigger, the DA’s Office said.

“The loss of life is unfortunate, and I sincerely sympathize with Mr. Thomas’s survivors. But when he drove the vehicle toward officers in the manner he did, the officer who fired the shots was justified under the law to use lethal force,” Cobb County DA Vic Reynolds said at the time of the grand jury decision.

“Police officers in Georgia are authorized to fire their weapons to protect themselves or others from immediate bodily harm. That is what happened in this case.”

Reynolds told the MDJ Wednesday that he was glad to see the U.S. Attorney’s Office review the case and offered to provide them with any and all resources they needed to successfully complete that task.