Deputies cleared in killing of man who pointed BB gun

Deadly force in 2018 case ‘reasonable,’ investigation finds.

Two deputies who shot and killed a drunken man who pointed a BB gun at them last year in Carroll County have been cleared of wrongdoing, authorities said.

David Willoughby, 33, of Temple, was shot and killed March 5, 2018, AJC. com previously reported. The officer-involved shooting prompted the GBI to investigate the incident.

Coweta County District Attorney Herb Cranford said the agency’s investigation found that the deputies’ use of deadly force was “reasonable,” according to a Tuesday news release.

Just before 10:40 p.m., a resident on West Lake View Terrace Drive made a 911 call, saying that Willoughby was outside their home with either a shotgun or BB gun, the release said. The caller hid their children in a back bedroom during the incident.

Willoughby had been arrested for threatening another person at the same home in November 2017, the release said. He was indicted in January 2018 on three counts of aggravated assault and three counts of terroristic threats.

Two other men, who were armed with a shotgun and handgun, told deputies at the scene that Willoughby was yelling, “I told you (expletives) I was coming back” and “I’m gonna kill y’all (expletives),” the release said. The three residents at the home were the same ones he allegedly threatened previously.

The deputies ordered Willoughby multiple times to “drop (the gun)” and “get on the ground,” but he didn’t comply, the release said. After he allegedly pointed the BB gun at the deputies, one of them fired multiple times at Willoughby. The second deputy, who briefly retreated when the BB gun was pointed at him, then also fired at the suspect. Willoughby was hit by one bullet in his torso, which killed him later that day at Tanner Medical Center in Villa Rica, the release said. His blood-alcohol content at the time of death was .256, which is more than three times the legal limit to drive.

Cranford said the “two deputies did not violate the laws of the State of Georgia, and I will not be presenting this case to either a Civil or a Criminal Grand Jury,” the release said.