Lawyer: police who shot man used excessive force
Oct 16, 2013, 6:31 PM
WAYCROSS, Ga. (AP) – A lawyer for the family of a south Georgia man shot to death by police inside his home says officers used excessive force.
Attorney Christopher Chestnut says the family of 45-year-old Jack Lamar Roberson contends Roberson was unarmed and wasn’t warned by police before officers fired at him.
Waycross police didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment Wednesday. Chief Tony Tanner has said officers had to protect themselves when they shot Roberson on Oct. 4. A police report says officers fired on Roberson after he lunged at them with a large meat fork and what appeared to be a knife.
On a recorded 911 call, Roberson’s fiancee told an operator Roberson had consumed pills and alcohol and said he wanted to die. But she said he wasn’t threatening anyone.
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