Parents of Georgia Tech student killed by campus police file lawsuit

ATLANTA — The family of a Georgia Tech student who was shot and killed by police in 2017 is planning to file a wrongful death lawsuit.

''Scout' Schultz, 21, was killed Sept. 16, 2017, during what officials described as a mental health crisis.

Video showed Scout and campus officers in a stand-off in front of a dormitory. Scout was armed with a multipurpose tool, according to police.

On Thursday, the Schultz family announced in a news conference that they are filing a lawsuit against the University System of Georgia Board of Regents, Georgia Tech and the campus police officer who shot and killed Schultz.

Channel 2's Tyisha Fernandes was there as Scout's father, Bill Schultz and attorneys Chris Stewart and Brian Spears spoke about why they are filing the suit.

They said Scout was having a mental health crisis and the officer should have been trained to deal with mental health situations.

"The blade wasn't out, the screwdriver wasn't out, the fork wasn't out," Stewart said. "Scout was holding it."

Spears said three of the four officers who confronted Scout were backing off once they realized this was a mental health crisis. The only one who didn't back off was officer Tyler Beck, who shot Scout in the chest.

The Schultz's attorneys said Beck never received crisis training.

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"He was having a mental health breakdown, and under those circumstances, no use of force would have been justified in the manner this officer acted," Spears said.

Schultz's parents are also upset that the officer that Beck is still employed by the university.

"I would prefer to see Tyler Beck in jail, but that's Paul Howard's decision, not mine," Bill Schultz said. "No, I don't think Tyler Beck should be on the campus police force."

Fernandes learned that after Schultz was killed, officials made lots of changes like arming officers with Tasers and providing crisis intervention training. Tech also gave a million dollars to support mental health awareness on campus.

Schultz's parents and their attorneys say it's not enough.

"It shouldn't have taken a death for Georgia Tech to make these changes," Stewart said.

Fernandes contacted the Georgia Tech Police Department, but they are not commenting on the lawsuit.

REMEMBERING SCOUT'S LEGACY:

Scout, an engineering major who identified as nonbinary, was a leader in LGBTQ campus organizations.

Fernandes learned that Scout graduated with a 3.9 GPA, but never walked across the stage to grab a degree. The degree was given to Scout's parents posthumously.

Scout's parents say their child was a genius who earned an engineering degree and was also into bioengineering.

Scout invented things that now have patents on them.

"This is just the beginning of they good things that could have come if Scout lived," Spears said.

Cox Media Group