The GBI is investigating after Clayton County police shot and killed a man they said pointed a gun at officers Wednesday morning, according to officials.
Clayton County police Chief Kevin Roberts said the department received a call around 5:20 a.m. about an armed man walking through a neighborhood in the 9100 block of Jenni Circle in Jonesboro. The man fired multiple shots before and after police arrived, Roberts added, though he was not sure if the man fired at officers.
A GBI spokesperson identified the Jonesboro man as 68-year-old Charles Henry Calhoun. He died at the scene.
Neighbors directed officers to the man, who was in his pajamas armed with a long gun, and he was ordered to drop the weapon, Roberts said. But Calhoun did not put it down, according to police.
“He pointed his firearm ... toward officers,” Roberts said. “An officer discharged his long gun, striking and fatally injuring that male.”
No officers were injured during the incident.
Friends and family members were seen grieving Calhoun’s death. A woman, who did not want to be identified, screamed to police: “You killed my husband!” Another woman, who also did not want to be identified, said police killed her father as she was pulled away from the scene.
Family members told Channel 2 Action News someone tossed a brick through the family’s window two weeks ago. Calhoun’s wife exclaimed that her husband thought there was a robbery at the home, though Roberts said there is no evidence of that.
“That may be the case — there is no indication from the investigation that there was any robbery that took place at this point, but the investigation continues,” he said.
Credit: John Spink
Credit: John Spink
The police chief said Calhoun was lying prone on his chest in the middle of the road with his weapon aimed at officers when they arrived. When asked if there was a chance officers mistook the homeowner for a burglar when they opened fire, Roberts suggested that was not the case.
“I’m not prepared to say that, in that they engaged a person in their pajamas proned out in the roadway with a long gun (pointed) at police officers, who gave verbal commands for that subject to drop the weapon,” he said.
The GBI has been asked to conduct an independent investigation.
Wednesday morning’s incident was the 30th officer-involved shooting the GBI has been asked to investigate this year. By this time last year, there had been 17. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also tracks officer-involved shootings that don’t involve the GBI, and those numbers sometimes differ from the GBI’s tally.
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