Two police officers in Georgia put on leave after shooting at minors
The
officers are on administrative leave pending the outcome of the
investigation, a news release from Waycross Police said. Waycross is in
south Georgia.
No one was
injured or killed in the shooting, but a 16-year-old was treated by EMS
for minor injuries after an altercation with officers, a release from
the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.
It
is just one of four officer-involved shootings since Friday night being
investigated by the GBI, news releases on the GBI website show.
The
investigations into all three incidents, which occurred in John's
Creek, Norcross and Screven County, are ongoing, according to the GBI.
Waycross
Police observed a car making a traffic violation around 8 a.m. Saturday
and attempted to obtain the license plate information for the car,
according to a news release from the GBI. Inside the car there were five
minors, ages 9, 12, 14, 15 and 16.
Three of the children, ages 9, 12, and 14, exited the car as it continued to move toward the officers, the GBI release said.
Officers
fired shots "multiple times" at the car with the other two minors, ages
15 and 16, inside, before the boys "exited the vehicle while it was
still in drive," the GBI release said.
The
16-year-old was arrested for possession of a handgun by a person under
18, reckless driving, a stop sign violation, aggravated assault on a
police officer, and driving with no driver's license, the Waycross
Police news release said.
The
15-year-old was charged with possession of a handgun by a person under
18, obstruction of an officer (felony), and removal or attempt to remove
firearm from an officer, according to the Waycross Police release.
CNN
affiliate WJXT spoke with Dominique Goodman Sr., the father of the
children involved, and the three youngest children involved in the
incident.
The five children in the
car were headed back from Walmart when the officer began following them,
Goodman told WJXT. The officer didn't turn on his lights to pull them
over until they reached their neighborhood, according to the three
youngest children.
The older teens
were scared and told the three youngest to jump out of the car and run
home to get their father, the 12-year-old told WJXT. When they got out
of the vehicle, the girl said the officers started shooting at them, the
affiliate reported.
At least seven
shots were fired by the officer, the 9-year-old boy told WJXT. "It went
passed my face," the boy told the affiliate. "I could have gotten shot
in my face, but they shot the swing."
"They
shot at a car full of unarmed minors. A car full of unarmed children.
Like who in the world can't see that this is a 9-year-old? Who can't see
that this is a child? They look like children," Goodman told WJXT.
"They are babies. What was the purpose of the shooting?"
Goldman heard the gunfire and saw the children running toward the house screaming for help, WJXT reported.
"We
go in the back, we open the door, we see my 9-year-old, my 12-year-old
and 14-year-old running from the police behind them, gunshots coming
behind them," Goodman told the affiliate. "We go down the street and we
see our 15-year-old and our 16-year-old on the ground."
The children were coming home to pick up
Goodman, he told the affiliate. They were all heading to a football
tournament in Jacksonville that two of the children were scheduled to
play in on Saturday, WJXT reported.
"This
is a good neighborhood. All the neighbors are basically kin. To hear
gunshots in this neighborhood and to see that it's our kids being shot
at, at everybody in the neighborhood knows our kids. They know they're
not bad kids," Goodman told WJXT. "Our kids almost lose their lives to
go to a football game? Man, that's crazy. That's crazy. Almost lost
their lives going to a football game."
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