WAYCROSS, Ga. – The Rev. Ferrell Malone organized a community meeting at his Waycross church Tuesday to discuss an incident involving a Waycross officer, who police said fired multiple gunshots at a car containing two teenagers while attempting a traffic stop.
Several dozen people -- all wearing masks -- demanded a response from police and prosecutors.
“What we want, No. 1, is for justice to be immediately served so that he is terminated and stripped of all credentialing of a police officer,” Malone said. “We want a state attorney general to issue this case to a district attorney in another district.”
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has launched an investigation of the incident Saturday morning in Waycross. Two boys, ages 16 and 15, were inside the car when a Waycross police officer approaching from the front opened fire, saying the vehicle had begun driving toward him, the GBI said.
“He said they tried to come at the officer. A 16-year-old tried to come at the officer. I said show me the body cam. Show me the dashcam,” Malone said.
Nobody was hurt by the gunfire. Before the shooting started, three younger children — ages 14, 12 and 9 — ran from the vehicle, the GBI said in a news release Saturday. The agency said the officer who opened fire had come to assist another Waycross officer who began following the car after witnessing the driver commit a traffic violation.
The father of both boys, Dominique Goodman Sr., said there was a gun in the glove compartment of the vehicle and that it’s registered to the 15-year-old’s mother. He said he believes the boys had no idea it was in the vehicle.
“There was a gun in the car, but they didn’t know the gun was in the car. It was in the glove compartment. Teressa said it was her gun. She told them where she purchased it from. She purchased it legally and had the right to own it,” Malone said.
Waycross police also said both teenagers inside the car were arrested on charges of illegal possession of a firearm by a minor and other count.
A statement from Waycross police said two officers have been placed on administrative leave while the GBI investigates, which is customary in Georgia.