ATHENS, Ga. — Athens-Clarke Police have released new videos and photos from the two days leading up to the shooting death of a man they said pointed a gun at park goers and even fired at a passing car before then carjacking a vehicle.
On Friday, the department released various portions of officer body-camera recording, 911 audio, and park surveillance video. The first video segments came from bodycam and 911 audio from a day earlier, May 22 around 5:20 p.m., when police first received reports of a man with a gun.
"Hey, there's this guy on Vine Street walking around with a gun, talking trash," one caller said in newly released audio. "I'm just calling because he's walking around like he's gone shoot a lot of folks."
They then received another call from Walker Park, also known as Trail Creek Park to many.
"It's a man that has a gun over here at the park on Trail Creek," said a woman who police said also called.
That person would later call back to say he shot at her car and another. The video shared by Athens-Clarke Police then shows a photo of the car with shattered glass on the passenger side as well as two to three other holes believed to be from the gunfire.
Police said they shut down the park that day and were unable to find the man despite searching with the help of K9 units for more than an hour.
But they soon found themselves back in the park a day later due to very similar reports of an armed man.
"I need you guys to hurry up, there's a guy walking around at the splash pad on [unclear] with a weapon yellin' at kids and people here, can you guys please hurry up," a new caller said, her voice trembling.
She then begins to share more details about what he's wearing. She said he was hiding the gun under a camouflage jacket as she continues to frantically plead with the dispatcher.
"There's a bunch of children and pregnant women here," she said. "You guys need to hurry up, and he's yelling at people. Please hurry up."
As the video continues through a montage of 911 calls, Athens Police share surveillance video from the splash pad area at the park that shows the man walking with something long and dark at his side. Police superimposed an arrow with the words "armed with a rifle" on the video.
Another caller is then heard telling 911 that a man was seen "yelling obscenities" at the women selling tickets at the splash pad.
Yet another video then shows what appears to be the same man walking near the splash pad area swinging what police and witnesses both said was a gun.
This time, he is walking on a nearby trail and, at one point, raises the suspected weapon at one person walking the trail just moments after small children run by him. He then points it at two other people walking by.
Despite the confrontation, these people appear to react very little.
However, the edited video cuts to yet another surveillance camera that shows people running from inside a brick building and up the same trail.
The montage of calls continues with one caller attempting to describe the man and the weapon - along with the suspect's erratic actions.
"He's got something behind his ear, maybe a cigarette, maybe a pencil, I'm not quite sure," the caller said. "He's just walking, he's got his gun by his side, it looks like a - I can't tell - it may be a semi-automatic rifle but it's pointed down at the ground. I saw him point it at a lady, though, when he was speaking with [name omitted by police]."
However, the situation, according to that witness, again grows tense as the man confronts yet another group.
"It looks like he just ordered some people out of their vehicle," the witness said. "He's getting in their vehicle now."
As the dispatcher requested a description of the vehicle, the caller says the armed man has begun driving away in the vehicle.
Police ultimately stop him as they say he was attempting to leave the area on Trail Creek Street.
The edited video cuts to the bodycam of an officer on the side of the road with a rifle raised yelling, "Stop! Police! Stop the car now! Get out of the car!"
The man stops and gets out of the vehicle as police order him to put his hands up and get on the ground. The video again shows the long object in his left hand which is pointed at the ground but that he doesn't drop.
The video shows the man then go behind the vehicle as police back away and attempt to find cover.
"He's taking a defensive position," one officer says.
Officers continue yelling to the man, commanding him to put his hands up and put down the weapon.
The man can be heard yelling something back at them, though it's not clear what he's saying initially. Another bodycam video picks up his comments slightly better, with him demanding they call the state police.
"We will get the state police, man, put the gun down," another officer says.
The suspect appears to continue demanding the state police. The narrator on the edited video then explains that the suspect didn't put down his weapon, despite being ordered to do so multiple times.
"At one point, shots were fired, striking the subject," the narrator says.
The video cuts back to the bodycam of the first officer shown, saying "Hey man, we can work on this," to the armed man. But the man continues to demand officers call the "state police."
The video then cuts to bodycam that shows one or more officers opening fire; roughly seven shots are heard. The department said seven officers fired shots.
Approaching with an armored vehicle and a drone, an officer is heard on yet another clip announcing "no movement."
The video moves on to another portion of bodycam video showing a paramedic checking the vitals of the man, whose body is censored, in the front seat of the stolen vehicle.
An officer is heard saying it's been at least 20 minutes since the shots were fired. The gunman is pronounced dead at the scene.
The video then highlights the barrel of the suspect's weapon in a freeze-frame, adding the words "individual is still in possession of rifle."
The investigation of the shooting has since been turned over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and is also being investigated internally, the video's narrator said in closing.