COBB COUNTY, Ga. — There is mounting pressure on Cobb County leaders to release the video of a deadly police shooting. In July, an officer shot Vincent Truitt, 17, twice in the back following a chase near the Six Flags Over Georgia amusement park.
Channel 2′s Cobb County Bureau Chief Chris Jose has learned Truitt’s parents are now taking the bold step of speaking directly to the board of commissioners. Truitt’s family and friends demanded the video’s released during Tuesday night’s Cobb County commission meeting.
“We will not stop until there’s justice for Vincent Demario Truitt,” said his father Andrae Truitt.
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Hours before the meeting, the family’s attorney, Gerald Griggs, posted a picture of Truitt on his Instagram page, urging people to show up for the meeting.
“We want to see what’s on that tape,” Griggs told Jose via Zoom.
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In a newly released video, Andrae Truitt, Vincent’s father, is back at the spot where a Cobb County police officer shot his son. A family representative who runs a Facebook page called Justice for Vince gave Channel 2 Action News permission to show the raw and emotional side of this grieving father.
“I’m just thinking about my son’s last breath. He (lay) here breathing out. And they just shot my boy down like an animal or something, man, in his back,” Andrae Truitt said on the video. “I love you, man. I love that boy, man. Everybody knows I love that boy.”
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Vincent Truitt brandished a handgun after police chased him and two other teens in a stolen car on Riverside Parkway.Cobb County Police Chief Tim Cox told Jose previously that he wants the GBI to turn over its findings to Cobb County’s district attorney.
Griggs said Truitt never brandished or pointed a gun as he ran away.
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“The truth is on the videos?” Jose asked Griggs.
“Exactly, and I think it’s incumbent (on) Cobb County to understand that we’re in a different climate. A climate where there’s accountability and transparency,” Griggs said.
Channel 2′s Matt Johnson attended the board of commissioners' meeting Tuesday night as family and friends of Truitt spoke up. They went into the meeting hoping commissioners could pressure the police department to make the video public.
“I can’t think straight since July 14. I cry every night until my heads hurt. I died with my son that day,” said Venethia Cook-Lewis, Truitt’s mother.
“In what world does a 17-year-old minor get shot in his back for running away,” said his father.
Only commissioner Lisa Cupid addressed Truitt’s supporters after about a dozen of them spoke during public comment. No action came out of the meeting.
“For the other members of the commission, they need to understand the weight of this situation,” Griggs said.
