‘I had to have him.’ Columbus police say weekend shooting spree was racially motivated
By Tim Chitwood
Columbus Ledger- Enquirer
June 14, 2021
Justin Tyran Roberts
The 39-year-old man charged in a weekend shooting spree told Columbus police his assaults were racially motivated, targeting white men he felt had taken from him all his life, a detective testified Monday.
Though police allege Justin Tyran Roberts was involved in three separate assaults that wounded five people Friday and Saturday in Columbus and Phenix City, he was in Columbus Recorder’s Court to face charges in just one of those incidents, a shooting around 2 p.m. Saturday under the Oglethorpe Bridge at Broadway and Fourth Street.
That’s where a man was shot in the back as he was getting into his vehicle in a parking area under the bridge, said Detective Brandon Lockhart, who quoted Roberts as telling police, “I had to have him.”
The victim was hit once in the back, but four bullets hit his vehicle, and police found six shell casings at the scene, Lockhart said.
Under questioning by public defender Robin King, Lockhart elaborated on what Roberts, who is Black, told him during an interview at police headquarters.
The victim was hit once in the back, but four bullets hit his vehicle, and police found six shell casings at the scene, Lockhart said.
Under questioning by public defender Robin King, Lockhart elaborated on what Roberts, who is Black, told him during an interview at police headquarters.
“Basically, he explained throughout his life, specifically white males had taken from him, and also what he described as ‘military-looking white males’ had taken from him,” the investigator said.
Roberts also claimed that such men were “shooting at him in a wooded area with a slingshot,” and the wounds had infected his skin, Lockhart testified. Police saw no injuries to substantiate that, he said.
When police patrolling the downtown area found Roberts about two hours after the Oglethorpe Bridge shooting, he was sitting on steps outside 425 Third Ave., Lockhart said. They found he had a Taurus 9-millimeter pistol that had been stolen on Thursday, the detective said.
King asked Judge Julius Hunter to order a mental health evaluation for Roberts: “The officer’s testimony has demonstrated that Mr. Roberts is having delusions and a disconnect from reality,” she said.
Hunter agreed, and found probable cause to send Roberts’ case to Muscogee Superior Court.
Charged with aggravated assault, using a gun to commit a crime and being a convicted felon with a firearm, Roberts will be held without bond.
Prosecutor Nicholas Hud noted Roberts has prior felony convictions, including an earlier case of having a stolen gun, and of being a convicted felon with a firearm. The random nature of the shootings, and their alleged racial motive, show Roberts poses a public safety risk, Hud added.
Saturday’s shooting victim has been released from the hospital, and did not want Roberts released on bond, Hud added.
Other shootings
The weekend shooting spree began about 8:15 p.m. Friday outside the Courtyard by Marriott hotel at 1400 Whitewater Ave. in Phenix City, where one man was wounded and taken to Piedmont Columbus Regional, Columbus Police Chief Freddie Blackmon said at a news conference Saturday evening.
Phenix City police said the victim in that case, a white man with short hair, was getting out of his car when a gunman walked up and shot him, before fleeing across the 14th Street bridge into downtown Columbus.
Roberts matches the description of the assailant in that incident, and authorities expect to file charges against him in Alabama, police said.
That shooting was followed two hours later by gunfire in the 1000 block of Broadway, where two men and a woman were hit, said Blackmon, who described those victims as two white males and a Black female.
In that case, Roberts is charged with three counts of aggravated assault and one count each of using a gun to commit a crime and being a convicted felon with a firearm. The suspect is to have a preliminary hearing on those charges Tuesday, authorities said.
Police found no evidence that Roberts knew any of his victims, said Blackmon, who sought Saturday to reassure people that the downtown business district branded as Uptown is safe to visit.
“Uptown is safe. These recent shooting incidents that occurred in the last 24 hours have been isolated incidents,” Blackmon said. “We have not received any information that would indicate there was anyone else involved in these shooting incidents other than the person we have in custody.”
1 comment:
Black people can not commit racially motivated crimes. Only evil horrible White people can do that.
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