Police Shoot, Kill Man In Need of Urgent Medical Assistance
A woman seeking urgent medical attention for her boyfriend says the 911 call she placed resulted in officers entering the couple's Georgia home and shooting the man dead.
In a press conference yesterday, Waycross Police Chief Tony Tanner said officers were dispatched to the scene following an alert of a suicide threat.
On the way they were informed that the suspect had "become combative" and "damaged items in the home."
According to Tanner, officers arrived on Reed St. to find Jack Lamar Roberson, 43, "aggressively armed with two items used as weapons."
The official report claims Roberson refused to heed the officers' orders to drop the "weapons," and was fired upon after advancing on the officers with one of the "weapons" raised "in a threatening manner."
Roberson's girlfriend and mother, who witnessed the shooting, are vehemently disputing the report, saying Roberson never threatened officers and had nothing in his hands at the time of his fatal shooting.
"He didn't have nothing in his hands at any time or period at all before they came, any time while they were here, anything," said Alicia Herron, Roberson's significant other and the mother of his eight-year-old daughter Zelphia.
"They just came in and shot him," she continued. "He didn't say nothing, the police didn't say nothing, anything, it was like a silent movie. You couldn't hear anything, all you could hear were the gun shots go off and I seen them going into his body and he just fell down."
Herron said she called emergency services after becoming concerned that Roberson, who had been depressed lately, may have swallowed too much diabetes medication.
An insulin overdose could explain Roberson's alleged erratic behavior, as it is often associated with intense anxiety, confusion, and trembling hands.
Herron acknowledged that Roberson knocked over a TV, but said he did so by accident.
Roberson's mother Diane backs Herron's version of events, saying Tanner is lying about the incident.
Though the police chief wouldn't say what were the alleged "weapons" in Roberson's hands, Mayor Clarence Billups told The Florida Times-Union that Roberson was armed with knives.
Herron showed the Times-Union the two sharpest knives they had in the house, and noted that they were not being used as evidence in the case.
Meanwhile, Tanner told reporters to forward any additional questions to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
The officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave pending the results of the GBI's investigation.
