Georgia officer indicted in death

Responding to the scene, DeKalb County Police Officer Robert Olsen shot Hill to death because he claimed the unarmed veteran was charging towards him.

Olsen is charged with two counts of violating oath of office, one of aggravated assault, one of making a false statement and two counts of murder.

“Warrants had been issued for the arrest of 53 year-old Olsen, as a suspect in the March, 2015 shooting death of 27 year-old Anthony Hill in Chamblee, Georgia”, a Friday Sheriff’s Department release said.

James said Olsen becomes the first Georgia law enforcement officer in five years prosecuted for fatally shooting a civilian while on duty. “Hopefully, this will set a precedent for discouraging paramilitary policing”. “When this case is presented in a fair manner to a jury in an open courtroom, Officer Olsen will be fully exonerated”.

A civil grand jury weighed the information and chose to present the information to a criminal grand jury, James said.

“What’s been alleged, that while in the commission of a felony, the officer in this case did cause the death of Anthony Hill”, James explained. He also clarified the difference between the charge of felony murder – a murder that occurs in the course of committing a felony – and malice murder, which involves a specific intent to kill. Officer Olsen has told investigators Hill lunged at him and said he was running backwards ordering Hill to stop charging towards him when they encountered one another in the parking lot that afternoon.

Now that the district attorney’s investigation is complete and the grand jury has returned an indictment, the DeKalb County Police Department will begin its own administrative investigation to determine what action, if any, it should take against Olsen, department spokesman Maj.

“The grand jury has to hear, without a doubt, the reasonable, subjective views of the officer and the reason why a law enforcement officer would act”, Lance LoRusso, a defense lawyer with the Georgia division of the Fraternal Order of Police, told the New York Times. The final statement will come from Officer Olsen, who has been on paid administrative leave since the fatal shooting. The police officer was indicted on six counts.

“Olsen says he has no memory of even talking to Anderson”.

As an Air Force veteran who had been deployed to Afghanistan, Anthony Hill had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and PTSD after returning from combat in 2012.

Carolyn Baylor-Giummo, Hill’s mother, thanked the supporters and expressed gratitude for the decision, the AP reported. Mr. Castillo said he saw Olsen shoot Hill after he stood up and moved toward Olsen with his hands raised. “When you decide to do something, if it’s not right, there are consequences and you have to be held accountable for it”. An Atlanta area grand jury indicted Olsen, who fatally shot an unarmed naked man on charges including felony murder, aggravated assault and violation of oath of office.