Unarmed Black Man Shot Dead by Police Near Atlanta

A blanket decorated with the portrait of Anthony Hill rests on a table as Hill’s mother, Carolyn Baylor Giummo, left, and grandmother Theola Baylor, sit for an interview on March 25. (AP / David Goldman)

Witnesses told investigators that a police officer did not need to use lethal force against an unarmed black man who was killed outside Atlanta for behavior that may have been influenced by a diagnosed bipolar disorder.

The Guardian reported:

Anthony Hill, a 27-year old US air force veteran who had served in Afghanistan and had bipolar disorder, was killed by DeKalb County police department officer Mark Olsen on March 9.

Olsen was responding to a 911 call about a man who was naked, had banged on his neighbors’ doors, and had crawled around the Heights of Chamblee apartment complex in the Atlanta suburb of Chamblee.

Christopher Chestnut, an attorney hired to represent Hill’s family, told reporters on March 25 that eyewitnesses had called into question Olsen’s use of lethal force. According to what multiple witnesses told to a private investigator, Olsen was approximately 180ft away from Hill when the two first made contact.