ATLANTA — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) is responding to the Atlanta Police Department (APD) after APD released hours of bodycam video from the day of a deadly shooting involving state troopers at the future site of the Atlanta Public Training Center.
A bodycam worn by APD officers shows how they descended on the site to remove protesters opposed to the facility.
You don’t see who fired first, but officers say protester Manuel Teran fired on them and they returned fire, killing Teran.
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A trooper was wounded in the shooting.
The GBI is now questioning the release of the videos.
The following is a statement from the GBI:
“The GBI is committed to a full, complete, and accurate investigation. Yesterday, the Atlanta Police Department released bodycam 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.
We ask for your patience as we continue our investigation. In addition to the collection of evidence, forensic evaluation and analysis, the investigative process includes among other things the interview of not only the officers at the immediate scene, but also all personnel who were present during the operation.
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. (OCGA § 50-18-72(a)(4)).
The GBI is continuing to investigate the incident from January 18th and is being as comprehensive in the investigation as possible. The initial assessment given by the GBI concerning the incident is still valid. Our investigation will continue to look at every aspect, to include statements made at the scene, and each will be evaluated.”
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The GBI says once its investigation is complete it will release all videos to the public.
But it says releasing the videos right now doesn’t help its investigation.
The agency is asking the public to be patient while it completes its investigation.
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