A family in Georgia says police opened fire on a car containing five children aged nine to 16, shot at the three youngest children as they exited and ran over the car, before hitting the car themselves and their two older brothers arrested.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigations said in a statement that the Georgia Waycross Police Department was calling them to investigate an officer who was involved in shootings that happened in Waycross on Saturday at about 8 p.m.
According to the GBI’s preliminary investigation, the incident began when a Waycross officer saw a traffic violation at a crossroads and tried to obtain the license plate number of the car.
A family in Georgia said officers shot at a car carrying five children, aged between nine and 16, before arresting the two oldest children (left). A 15-year-old (right) was injured in the arrest
Video of the arrest shows the 15-year-old boy dripping with blood in his head. The boy’s father (right) is pictured here during the arrest, as it happened
However, when the car arrived at another crossroads, three children – ages nine, 12 and 14 – were seen getting out of the car and walking away.
A second officer arrived on the scene as a backup, while first officer followed the three children in his cruiser.
It said the second officer had approached the car, the children where they were from in front, when the car drove towards him, at which point the officer shot at the car multiple times.
Two teenage boys – aged 15 and 16 – were said to have gotten out of the car while it was still driving.
After hearing the gun shots, the first officer returned to the scene where the car was stopped. The three running children were told they were going home.
While the 15- and 16-year-old boys were arrested, police said there was an altercation between the second officer and the 15-year-old, who left him with minor injuries that had to be treated by EMS.
Waycross Police Department in Ware County, Georgia is under fire after allegedly shooting at an unarmed 9-year-old and 12-year-old. pic.twitter.com/MIRxVaPZDp
– All Georgia (@GAFollowers) August 8, 2020
News photos show demonstrable bullet holes in the back door of the car, from an officer who shot at the car while the two older brothers were still sitting in it
The child’s father, Dominique Goodman Sr. (pictured), was heard in a video pleading with police not to shoot his two children during the arrest
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was called in to review what happened
In dramatic video of the boys’ arrest, the five children can be heard his father, Dominique Goodman Sr., and a woman begging the police not to shoot his two sons as they face lying down in the dirt road.
‘My children, man! Those are kids man! They are underage men! ‘Goodman shouts as he approaches the intersection where his sons are being arrested.
“You will not shoot her, please!” a woman standing nearby called to the officers.
The three younger children – a nine-year-old boy and 12- and 14-year-old girls – told News4Jax they were on their way back from Walmart when they saw an officer following them.
They said the officer did not turn on his cruiser lights to pull them over until they were near their own neighborhood, at which point their older brothers – the 15- and 16-year-olds – were scared and told them to go out and go home. run to get her father.
When the younger three children left the car and started running, they said an officer started shooting at them.
The nine-year-old boy said the officer fired at least seven bullets and one of them came close to his head.
“It passed in front of my face,” he told the news station. ‘I could have shot in my face, but they shot the swing.’
Video footage of the car in which the children were sitting shows apparent bullet holes in the back door of passengers.
“They shot at a car full of unarmed minors,” Goodman said. ‘A car full of unarmed children. Like who in the world can not see that this is a 9-year-old? Who can not see that this is a child? They look like children. They are babies. What was the purpose of the shooting? ‘
Goodman said the family would travel together Monday to a football tournament that two of the children played that morning in Jacksonville, Florida.
But, he said, the children were upset, ‘jumped the gun’ and left early, without telling him.
The incident with the police happened on the drive back home from Walmart.
Video footage also shows the 15-year-old boy sitting in a police car with blood on his face.
The teen later told News4Jax that he was not sure why they were being pulled because they were not faster. He also claimed that during the arrest, while holding his hands up, a police officer punched him in the eye with his rifle and another officer grabbed him in the back.
The family said the two teen boys were taken to the police station and held for hours.
Authorities told News4Jax that the teen boys were arrested ‘on the basis of circumstances surrounding the incident’ and that they are now facing several prosecutors.
Police said the 16-year-old was charged with possession of a handgun by a minor, improper driving, aggravated assault on a police officer, driving without a license and violating a stop sign.
The 15-year-old, meanwhile, is accused of possessing a handgun by a minor, criminal obstruction of an officer and removal or attempting to remove a firearm from an officer.
The two officers involved in the incident have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
The NAACP’s Atlanta chapter is asking police to release the body and take camera footage immediately so they can conduct their own investigation into what happened.
“I’m very concerned that shots were fired while children were involved,” Atlanta Attorney Gerald Griggs, VP of the NAACP Chapter Atlanta, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. ‘We are concerned that the level of force was used.’
The GBI is still investigating and has asked anyone with information about what happened to call the GBI at 912-389-4103 or the Waycross Police Department at 912-287-2921.
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