ATLANTA — A group of community activists headed by a state senator is calling for Atlanta Police to release video of Thursday's downtown shooting death of an auto theft suspect.
Police said they found Alexia Christian in a stolen pickup truck Thursday afternoon. They said two officers did not search her, but did handcuff her and put her in the back of a patrol car on Pryor Street.
According to Atlanta Police Chief George Turner, Christian slipped one hand from her handcuffs, produced a hidden .380 Taurus pistol and fired three shots at the officers in the front seat.
All three shots missed.
Turner said the officers jumped out of the car and returned fire, striking Christian several times. She later died at the hospital.
Turner acknowledged they have dashcam video of the incident, though he said since the camera faced forward, it's more of an audio recording. Turner declined to release the video until after the investigation is complete.
Monday, state Sen. Vincent Fort and others called for Turner to release that video.
"We don't know the facts of what went on that fateful day," Fort said. "What we do know is that something went tragically wrong."
Fort said he had no evidence of any police misconduct, but wanted to see the video in the spirit of transparency.
Joe Beasley of Rainbow PUSH asked for APD to release the video, too.
"The tapes are objective observers," Beasley said. "So I believe the tapes should be released and should be released immediately."
APD declined to comment but did say the investigation remains open and ongoing.
Channel 2's Richard Elliot obtained police reports showing APD arrested Christian several times before, and according to a 2006 arrest report, she slipped her hands out of handcuffs once before.
According to the 2006 report, an officer detained Christian in an auto theft investigation and placed her in the back of his patrol car in handcuffs.
But the report states Christian slipped her hand out of them, jumped into the front seat of his patrol car and tried to flee the scene.
The report states the officer jumped in through the driver's side window and grabbed the steering wheel, forcing the car to turn circles in a Southwest Atlanta strip mall parking lot, when the car jumped a curb it knocked him off causing injury.
APD later recovered the stolen cruiser and arrested Christian.
Meanwhile, the two officers involved in Thursday's shooting remain on paid administrative leave until the end of the investigation.