ATLANTA — The district attorney’s office investigating the death of a protester who was shot by Georgia State Patrol troopers sent its report to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation on Friday.
Manuel Teran, 26, was shot and killed on Jan. 18 during a raid on the construction site of an Atlanta police and fire public safety training facility. Officials said Teran refused to listen to commands from the troopers to come out of a tent and fired four gunshots at the troopers.
Six troopers returned fire at Teran, killing him.
In a report issued Friday, the Mountain Circuit District Attorney’s Office ruled that the use of lethal force by GSP was “objectively reasonable under the circumstances of this case” and no criminal charges will be filed against the troopers involved in the shooting.
The report is below.
District Attorney's Office Report on Deadly Shooting of Manuel Teran by WSB-TV Assignment Desk on Scribd
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A GBI forensics report obtained by Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne concluded that samples taken from Teran’s hands revealed more than five particles characteristic of gunshot residue.
“Such particles are residue from a detonated primer of a discharged firearm,” the report said.
The report notes that it is possible for victims of gunshot wounds, both self-inflicted and non-self-inflicted, to have GSR on their hands.
According to the GBI, troopers gave Teran verbal commands to come out of his tent, but he refused. The GBI said Teran then shot at them without warning and they shot back in self-defense. In Atlanta police body camera video, you can hear four distinct shots before a barrage of rapid-fire gunshots.
According to an autopsy performed by the DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office, it concluded that Teran had more than 57 gunshot wounds.
The GBI said that forensic ballistic analysis confirmed that the bullet recovered from the trooper’s wound matched Teran’s handgun that was recovered at the scene. Agents identified the gun as a Smith & Wesson M&P Shield 9mm.
The autopsy report said that no gunshot residue was observed on Teran’s hands, not that it wasn’t present. Powder residue is not always something that is visible to the naked eye.
Protesters had been occupying one of Atlanta’s oldest urban forests for months until Teran’s death. The group had gotten into repeated and escalating conflicts with the police, throwing Molotov cocktails and shooting fireworks at officers.
After Teran’s death, seven protesters were arrested on domestic terrorism charges after they staged a “night of rage” in which they marched through the city, damaging property.
Though the protesters claimed to be peaceful, Mike Register, who was director of the GBI at the time, said the protesters were violent on many occasions and that they would be held accountable.
Agents found mortar-style fireworks, multiple-edged weapons, pellet rifles, gas masks and a blow torch when they cleared the campsites days after Teran’s death.
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