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A Buckhead family is speaking out for the first time after 44-year-old Linton Blackwell was shot and killed by an off-duty Atlanta police officer outside the Five Paces Inn bar earlier this month.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says the shooting happened around 11:30 p.m. on October 12.
Investigators say the officer was working an extra job nearby when he heard an argument between Blackwell and another person.
“An officer… responded to security, requesting a disruptive patron. He responded to the location and encountered the patron in the back parking lot and was trying to get to the establishment,” said Lt. Michael Young, Atlanta Police Department.
Police reports say Blackwell went to his car, returned with a gun, and the officer yelled commands before opening fire, striking Blackwell multiple times.
An autopsy report shows multiple gunshot wounds to Blackwell’s back and buttocks.
FOX 5 previously reported that a U.S. District Judge dismissed charges in that earlier case, citing the federal supremacy clause and Georgia’s self-defense laws.
The family says they don’t know why the officer was shot more than 10 times.
“This officer needs to be held accountable,” said Blackweell’s cousin, Jimmy Hill. “I couldn’t believe it. Tears started coming down my eyes.”
“Fourteen shots to the back, how do you justify that? There’s no way you can justify that. That was cold-blooded murder,” cousin Jimmy Hill said.
He says the family went to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office on Thursday seeking updates. “We were told the GBI might take up to 6 months. That’s a bunch of bull. It shouldn’t take the GBI up to 6 months to complete this investigation.”
Hill says the incident feels painfully familiar. “My son was murdered Jan. 22, 2019 by police, by former Atlanta police officer, Atlanta police officer Sung H. Kim.”
He says he wants a different outcome this time. “I want to see him get time. I want to see him get indicted.”
FOX 5 reached out to the GBI. A spokesperson confirms it is an open and active investigation.
