Atlanta Police released the video that shows the moments that led up to Deaundre Phillips being shot and killed.
The officer who shot and killed Phillips is 11-year veteran Yasin Abdulahad, Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields said to Fox 5 in Atlanta.
The video was released by police February 24.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation took a look at the incident in which two plainclothes detectives allegedly arrived at a public safety building January 26 in Atlanta. As detectives moved toward a man in a vehicle (Phillips) — because of a an “odor of marijuana — he got out of the car and started a conversation with detectives. According to police, Phillips “lunged back into the vehicle and attempted to flee while one of the detectives was partially in the passenger side,” WSB-TV 2 reported.
One of the detectives fired his gun at Phillips, hitting him once in the neck and killing him at the scene. Protesters and family members have been gathering to speak out against the incident.
However, the newly-released video paints a different picture of the incident. It shows Officer Adbulahad inside a car, an unmarked red sports car, when it parks and turns its lights off in the annex’s parking lot. Officers approached Phillips’ car, which was a couple of parking stalls over. It appears that Phillips did exit the car and quickly got back in, trying to flee the scene. But the other officer was not “halfway inside the car,” as had previously been reported.
The family of Phillips released a statement through their attorney Chris Stewart upon learning of the police releasing the video:
The family of Deaundre Phillips is relieved that the Atlanta Police Dept. has decided to release video that shows the last moments of his life. After watching this video for themselves, Deaundre’s family feels even more strongly that justice will prevail in this case. We will provide additional comment following release of the video February 24. Until then, we will continue in our quest to get to the truth for the Phillips family.
On February 24 shortly after the surveillance video was released to the public, the Phillips family held a press conference alongside their attorney.