Alabama Man Deemed ‘Suspicious’ By Officer Fatally Shot Outside Own Home

Greg Gunn police shooting Alabama
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A family is seeking answers after an Alabama police officer last week shot and killed a man yards from his own front door.

Greg Gunn, 58, of Montgomery, died early Thursday morning after a police officer on patrol spotted him walking in a residential neighborhood a little before 3:20 a.m. Authorities on Monday identified the police officer as A.C. Smith, who joined the force in 2012.

Police Chief Ernest Finley said Smith deemed Gunn “suspicious,” left his car and approached Gunnon foot. A struggle ensued before Smith fatally shot Gunn, Finley said.

Finley confirmed Smith is white. Gunn was black.

At a Monday news conference, Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange said he couldn’t specify why Smith deemed Gunn suspicious but said all patrol officers were aware of a rash of burglaries in the area lately.

Local attorney Tyrone Means, who represents the Gunn family, said Gunn attended a regular card game with friends Wednesday after he got off work. Gunn frequently walked from his friend’s house to his home a few blocks away, where he lived with his mother.

“Trayvon Martin was a black kid walking in a predominantly white neighborhood, and someone just thought he looked suspicious,” Means said. “Greg Gunn was in a community in which he was well-known and well-loved. That’s scary.”

Gunn and his family grew up in the west Montgomery neighborhood, Means said. After a divorce, he had returned home to care for his mother.

“All this gentleman was doing was walking home,” Means said. “Little did the family expect that a walk this man has done all his life would end with him dying in terror.”

Family and community activists want answers from city authorities and police, specifically about possible body and patrol camera footage.

But city officials said the situation is out of their hands while the State Bureau of Investigations handles the case.

“We’re not satisfied either,” Strange said Monday. “We obviously want answers. It’s out of our hands. We’ve done everything possible to make sure this is done correctly.”

Strange said the crime scene was immediately sealed Thursday after Gunn was declared dead around 3:35 a.m., and no police officers reviewed any potential camera footage at the scene. All evidence was turned over to SBI, Strange said, who arrived on scene around 4:30 a.m.

Means said the Gunn family is concerned about their family but also “broader implications” of Gunn’sdeath.

“If nothing else, perhaps this will change the way law enforcement responds,” Means said. “There has to be some manner of screening people who do not have the discernment or discretion to use a lethal weapon.”

SBI on Monday would not comment on any aspect of the investigation. Strange said he has requested SBI expedite the investigation.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. When you train white cops to see themselves as a occupying force holding back a lethal tide of murderous insurgency and that nothing is more important than coming home alive and that only instantaneous “compliance” can achieve that, the Cheney One Percent Doctrine governs the use of lethal force. And likewise informs the investigation of its use.

  2. Avatar for dnl dnl says:

    Black = suspicious until dead.

  3. “If nothing else, perhaps this will change the way law enforcement responds,” Means said.

    Nope. Sorry to have to break this to you but the only that will happen is that the family will get some kind of settlement money to go away. Even if every Black person in this country were gunned down by LEO’s, it still wouldn’t be a “teachable moment.”

    That moment is LONG past by now.

  4. How is it possible that there hasn’t been a concerted, nation-wide effort to fundamentally change the way law enforcement operates? It will likely take a generation of officers, better trained, and better prepared for their task before we see real change. How much longer can we wait to start working on a problem that will take 20 or 30 years of concerted effort to see results?

  5. I will laugh when I hear that this police headquarters has been blown to kingdom come. I will not be surprised.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

11 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for hoppy Avatar for brooklyndweller Avatar for mondfledermaus Avatar for ncsteve Avatar for avattoir Avatar for firstprime Avatar for steviedee111 Avatar for thomasmatthew Avatar for dnl Avatar for occamsrazor2 Avatar for d_major Avatar for firewing2 Avatar for omahhum Avatar for caltg Avatar for a_real_live_person

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: