Former Morehouse athletic official who shot 2 people at party did it in self-defense, judge rules

ATLANTA — A judge has thrown out the case against a Morehouse College Athletic Official accused of shooting two men in 2021.

Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Mark Winne has been digging into the case for days.

Former Morehouse Associate Athletic Director Phillip Thomas was arrested on aggravated assault charges after he shot fired a gun and injured two people with one bullet during a party in 2021.

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This week, a judge ruled that Thomas was acting within the bounds of self-defense laws and threw out the case.

Criminal defense lawyer Chinwe Foster said Thomas and Kendrick Cooper, who are both members of the Omega Psi Psi fraternity, had a verbal argument about a frat-related issue that escalated into Thomas shooting Cooper. The bullet passed through Cooper and wounded Christopher Swain, the host of the party and friend to both men who had been trying to make peace.

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Foster said it could have been Thomas who was shot if he hadn’t defended himself.

Foster said the fight escalated to a physical one, and Cooper put Thomas into a Jujitsu hold.

Cooper is described in court documents as a competitive mixed martial arts fighter.

According to court documents, Cooper walked away from Thomas, but then put another frat brother named Bruce into a chokehold.

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Later in the night, Thomas was moving his gun and other items from the back of his SUV where he had stored them when Cooper spied Thomas and raced toward him. Thomas told Cooper to stop, but he kept coming at him.

“When he lunged at me, I had my weapon in my left hand and shot him,” Thomas said.

Winne spoke to Cooper by phone, who said he’s not a professional MMA fighter, but he does do martial arts for exercise. He claims he simply wanted to restrain both men. He argues that he was just trying to talk to Thomas and that Thomas never told him to stop charging at him.

Thomas was charged with aggravated assault, among other charges. But Foster said she quickly knew that the right defense was self-defense.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney closed this case, ruling that Thomas “was acting within the bounds of the self-defense laws that our Legislature has duly passed when he used that gun to repel what he reasonably believed to be another potentially deadly assault.”

Foster said that in Georgia, you have the right to defend yourself against an attack.

Cooper said he feels that he and Swain, who still has a bullet lodged in him, were victims who were denied justice.

Thomas said the incident has negatively impacted his life as well.

“My life has been turned upside down multiple times like dryer, just tumbling,” Thomas said. “Your life can be shattered, taken away or altered in the split of a second.”

Thomas said he resigned from Morehouse to focus on his criminal case.

DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston was appointed to prosecute the case.

“When we received this case, we knew based on the evidence it may be difficult to prosecute,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “While we respect Judge McBurney’s ruling, we are still considering options regarding an appeal and are consulting with the victims and their families.”

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