Macon – Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney David Cooke announced Friday that his office has cleared Bibb County Sheriff’s Office deputies Christopher Williams and Christopher Scudari of any wrongdoing in the June 2 use of force incident involving Shamir De’Angelo Terry. Both deputies fired their service weapons toward Mr. Terry following an armed robbery at the Circle K Convenience store at 2580 Riverside Drive.
The decision to deem the shooting justified was made after a thorough investigation by the GBI and a review of both surveillance and body camera footage.
Facts considered include:
A witness in the parking lot outside the Circle K saw a man pointing a gun at a store clerk in an apparent robbery at about 10:45 p.m. He flagged down Deputy Williams who had been driving nearby and also called 911.
Deputy Williams pulled into the Circle K’s parking lot and saw a man — who matched the description of the robber — pointing a gun toward an occupied car. Then the man, later identified as Terry, lowered his gun and walked toward the Applebee’s restaurant behind the Circle K. Williams announced himself as a Bibb County deputy and told Terry to stop. Terry immediately turned around, raised his gun toward Williams and fired. The deputy took cover behind a dumpster and his patrol car as he returned fire.
Terry then headed toward Pierce Avenue and Deputy Williams again yelled for him to stop. Terry kept on going, yelling, “I’m not going back to jail.” Williams deployed his Taser toward Terry, but the Taser was ineffective. Terry walked out into the traffic lanes on Pierce Avenue and encountered a passing car. At about that time, Deputy Scudari arrived in his patrol vehicle. Both deputies saw Terry raise a gun toward the car and feared for the safety of the motorist. They fired at Terry, striking him multiple times, while Terry fired in their direction. Terry later died at a local hospital.
“Law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every day protecting our community. It’s rare that they have to fire a gun. In this case, these deputies were justified. This wasn’t a close call. The evidence was clear,” Cooke said.
Had Terry lived, he would have been charged with armed robbery, and multiple counts of aggravated assault for his assaults on customers, witnesses, and the law enforcement officers.
Charges of murder and armed robbery have been filed against India Whitson for her part in the robbery. Whitson is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
For more news from the District Attorney’s Office, follow on Twitter @DA_DavidCooke, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/DADavidCooke and on Instagram at da_davidcooke.
Contact: Amy Leigh Womack
478-621-6179 (office)
478-319-2529 (cell)