Georgia officer charged with manslaughter
ATLANTA — A white Georgia police officer accused of fatally shooting a black man had only been on the job a year and a half. But during that time, he’d already earned one suspension for using his personal vehicle in a high-speed chase and — after a black resident complained to the police — parked outside his house, causing the resident to say he feared for his life.
Kingsland Police Officer Zechariah Presley surrendered Wednesday after the Georgia Bureau of Investigation obtained a warrant for his arrest on the charge of manslaughter. The killing has enraged family and friends of the dead man — Anthony Marcel Green — in the small town of Kingsland near the border with Florida where the shooting occurred.
Green’s family demanded justice Thursday, with one of their lawyers referring to the shooting as one of many “senseless killings of black men by police.”
Presley’s lawyer, Adrienne Browning, said her client is looking forward to his day in court and declined further comment.
The shooting unfolded June 21, when Presley was following a vehicle that stopped at an intersection and the driver and passenger ran, according to a statement from the investigative bureau. Presley pursued the driver, shouting over police radios: “Got one running! Got two running!”
Images from Presley’s body camera were enhanced and are being reviewed by the bureau, along with dashcam footage, GBI Special Agent Stacy Carson said. She said for that reason, neither was being made public.
Presley, 26, caught up with Green, 33, making physical contact, but Green again fled, “at which time Presley fired multiple shots resulting in the death of Green,” the bureau statement said.