Chief on officer-involved shooting: Communication 'not what it should have been'

ATLANTA — Atlanta’s police chief is sharing the details of the investigation into an officer-involved shooting.

APD last night released the name of the detective who shot and killed Deaundre Phillips at the public safety annex on Jan. 26.

Atlanta’s police chief is sharing the details of the investigation into an officer-involved shooting.

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Officer Yasin Abdulahad shot Phillips as he tried to drive away with another detective hanging on to his car, police said.

Police announced that they will release the video of the shooting on Feb. 24. Phillips’ family has seen the video.

Police Chief Erika Shields wants to improve communications between the department and the public.

“There were some steps that could have been taken that would have not gotten us to this point where there was so much angst and frustration,” she told Channel 2’s Mark Winne in an exclusive interview.

She said communication could have been better with the victim’s family, especially.

“The communication with the family was not what it should have been,” Shields said.

Shields said that these types of situations are tricky because the GBI provides an outside investigation of APD shootings, and the district attorney will make key prosecution decisions.

“But what we did not anticipate was that the APD would still be on the receiving end of all the questions,” she said.

The police chief said she’s talking to the Fulton County district attorney about a better way to communicate with the public and families. She said she will also reach out to the DeKalb district attorney.

Shields said she remains concerned about some extremely violent and graphic threats on police in general and in response to the officer-involved shooting in particular that appeared on social media after Phillips’ death.

She said she is not sure if the threats are legitimate, or just the product of anger.

Cox Media Group