The family of a Georgia man, who was fatally shot by police on Friday, are refuting the officers' account, saying the killing was unjust.
Police say Jack Lamar Roberson, a 43-year-old father of two, allegedly advanced toward them with two items he was using as weapons. However, Roberson's family said he was in need of help and wasn't threatening in any way.
Roberson's fianceé, Alicia Herron, said she called 911 when she noticed him acting erratically after taking his pills to control his blood sugar. However, officers came to their home instead of paramedics.
According to the Florida Times Union, city police officers said they were responding to a suicide threat, and while en route, they were updated that the man had become combative and had damaged things in the home.
On Monday, Waycross Police Chief Tony Tanner said Roberson started "aggressively toward them with two items used as weapons" when authorities entered the property. Tanner went on to say that despite officers' repeated commands to drop the objects, Roberson gained ground raising one of the weapons "in a threatening manner," provoking officers to fire.
However, Roberson's mother Diane, who witnessed the shooting along with his fianceé, said her son had no weapons in his hands.
“We had no weapons in this house whatsoever,’’ she said. “My gentle lamb … He kissed me every morning, made me breakfast in bed, and they said he had two weapons.”
Similarly, Herron told First Coast News Roberson had nothing in his hands.
"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. They just came in and shot him," she said. "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."
First Coast News reports:
According to a Waycross Police Department Incident Report, "Near Roberson's head was a black handled, two prong meat fork and another black handled kitchen utensil." The black handled kitchen utensil could not be identified because the metal part was covered by a shoe.
Unfortunately, Roberson's family is not the first to question police for fatal shootings. In September, a North Carolina police officer shot former football player Jonathan Ferrell 10 times leaving his parents and the local NAACP chapter questioning whether race played a role in the shooting.
Both Roberson's mother and fianceé admitted that Robinson was depressed but was not suicidal, and said he had accidentally knocked over a television as he left the room.
Tanner said the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is currently investigating the shooting.
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