GBI probes 2021’s 100th officer-involved shooting

The number of officer-involved shootings in Georgia this year hit triple digits Tuesday.

Officials from the Savannah Police Department asked the GBI to conduct an independent investigation after one of its officers shot and killed an armed robbery suspect Monday night, the state agency announced in a news release.

The shooting occurred about 7 p.m. at a beauty supply store in the 600 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard on the outskirts of Savannah’s historic district.

Police responded to calls about an armed robbery in progress and approached Kevin Dubois, a 31-year-old Savannah man armed with a gun, the GBI said. Police gave Dubois commands to drop the gun, but he didn’t, the GBI said. Instead, he ran from officers, according to authorities.

Investigators say Dubois pointed his weapon at police during the chase and was shot by two officers. He was taken to a hospital, where he died. The officers were not injured.

Neither of the officers’ names were released. A Savannah police spokesperson said both were placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the GBI investigation.

Savannah police will investigate the armed robbery while the GBI handles the shooting. Investigators recovered a handgun and bundles of money from the scene, according to the GBI.

Monday’s incident marked the 100th shooting involving law enforcement that the GBI has investigated so far this year. In 2020, GBI investigators responded to 96 officer-involved shootings across the state. The state agency eclipsed that total Dec. 21, when Shawn Martin was shot by two officers in Savannah and later died after authorities said he emerged from a closet swinging a knife.

The Atlanta Journal-constitution also tracks officer-involved shootings that don’t involve the GBI, and those numbers sometimes differ from the GBI’S tally.