Clayton County

Police chief defends officer after viral video of teens held at gunpoint

The Clayton County police chief is defending his officer after a viral video that shows him holding a group of teen boys at gunpoint.

The incident happened Monday night and people quickly shared the video across social media, including on Channel 2′s Facebook page.

"They kids! Please sir! They kids!" neighbors shouted at the officer. "Probably ain't even 16 or 17!"

Channel 2′s Tom Jones was in Jonesboro, where Police Chief Kevin Roberts said his officers did nothing wrong and that he would give them an A+ for how they handled the incident.

It all unfolded when a convenience store clerk said he saw a teen holding the gun inside his Quick Shop store. The clerk called 911 and told the operator the group of teens were stealing.

Channel 2′s Nicole Carr got the recordings of that 911 call Tuesday.

911 dispatcher: “Are they like teenagers?”

Clerk: “Yes ma’am. They didn’t put the gun on me they just tried to show off the gun in the parking lot.”

The clerk said the kids were fighting in the parking lot, but surveillance shows them playing around sharing a canned drink and three of the five tossing what ended up being the BB gun.

[LISTEN: 911 Call 1 & 911 Call 2]

Roberts said the officer, who hasn’t been identified, was concerned for everyone’s safety, that he had to deal with a hostile crowd and he had no idea that the weapon the teens had was a BB gun.

He pulled his weapon, but Roberts said once he determined there was no threat, he just talked to them.

"From a distance, it looks, it can appear, totally real," Roberts said. "No way to know until they investigate the call."

The chief said everyone made it home safely, and that the officer even talked to those kids like a father, telling them about the dangers of carrying something that looks like a weapon.

“Get your hands up, now! Listen to me so you don’t get hurt,” the officer is heard telling the group as he approaches them with his gun raised. “Remember, I’m here because one of y’all might have a gun. Pay no attention to the crowd.”

Neighbors and people who saw the video were upset that it appeared the officer pulled out a gun first.

"He pulled his gun and pointed it at five 13-, 14-year-old children," witness Shanelle Ladd said. "There are so many other ways to go about this situation, and he did not take those actions"

Roberts said the officer pulled his weapon for one reason:

"To ensure that he got home safely and both those young men got home safely," Roberts said.

In the cellphone video, you can hear people cursing and screaming at the officer.

Roberts said that didn't make his officer's job any easier.

"It was the external noise around the interaction that was counterproductive," Roberts said.

People are calling for a change in the department and stronger deescalation tactics. Some are calling for the officer to be fired.

The chief said his officer responded the way he should have.

"It was a perfect example of deescalation techniques under strenuous circumstances," Roberts said.

On Wednesday night, protesters who want the officer fired marched near the county commission building.