The GBI was called to investigate after a man was shot by two Chatham County police officers Thursday night in a neighborhood outside Savannah, officials said.
Vincent Gadson, 71, was said to be armed when the two officers opened fire, according to the GBI. He was taken to Memorial Health Hospital in Savannah and was stable Friday morning.
The officers involved have been placed on administrative leave per department protocol, the Chatham County Police Department told local news outlets.
They were sent to the area of Tara Court and Ferguson Avenue about 7:30 p.m. after a 911 caller said his neighbor was pointing a gun at him, GBI Agent Lindsey Smith said in a news release. When they arrived, a different neighbor said Gadson was also pointing a gun at him, Smith said.
“Officers then made contact and communicated with Gadson for approximately 15-20 minutes in an attempt to de-escalate the situation,” she said. “Gadson refused to comply with the officers’ commands to drop the gun, and then to move away from it.”
He put his gun down on a chair on his porch, but he was shot when he picked it up again, according to Smith, who is in charge of the investigation.
GBI agents are investigating an OIS after a request from the Chatham Police Department. Our public affairs office will issue a news release with updates from our investigation. pic.twitter.com/WtjIMXDgFM
— GA Bureau of Investigation (@GBI_GA) May 14, 2021
It is the 29th officer-involved shooting the agency has been asked to investigate this year. 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.
— Please return to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for updates.
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