Ga. officer not guilty of murder

A former Georgia police officer who fatally shot an Air Force veteran who was unarmed and naked was found not guilty of felony murder on Monday.

Robert “Chip” Olsen, 57, shot victim Anthony Hill in broad daylight in the March 2015 incident after police received calls of a man behaving erratically outside an Atlantaarea apartment building. Hill was bipolar and had been diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder.

The former DeKalb County officer was convicted of three other offenses, however. The jury found him guilty of aggravated assault, violation of oath of office and making a false statement.

The shooting led to months of protests against police brutality and racism in the police force. Hill, who served in Afghanistan, was black and Olsen is white.

The property manager in the apartment complex where Hill was shot had called 911 three times to report the man’s bizarre behavior, and dispatchers told Olsen he was “possibly demented.” Witnesses testified that Hill ran toward the patrol car when Olsen arrived. The cop left the car yelling, “Stop!” but Hill didn’t stop, so Olsen shot him twice, according to the witnesses.

Friends told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution at the time that Hill was likely having a reaction to medication he took for bipolar disorder.

The verdict comes just days after another white cop in Georgia was acquitted of manslaughter charges in connection to the 2018 fatal shooting of an unarmed black man. Zechariah Presley fired several shots at 33-year-old Tony Green, who was fleeing from him on foot after a traffic stop near the Georgia-Florida state line in June 2018. Presley was only found guilty of violating his oath of office.

Olsen would have faced up to life in prison if he had been convicted of murder. He faces up to 30 years behind bars for his guilty charges at a Nov. 1 hearing. The ex-cop was released on bond and will have to wear an ankle monitor until the next court appearance.