District Attorney George Hartwig released a statement
Thursday saying that the Warner Robins Police officers involved in the shooting
death of Anthony Rawls on March 10 were justified in their actions.
According to a release from the District Attorney’s Office,
officers responded to the 106 Huntwood Lane home around 7:47 p.m. after
Michelle Rawls called 911 and told the operator that her husband threatened to
kill her and that he had a gun. She then told the operator not to send the
police to the home “because her husband said he would kill her if police came
to the house,” said the release.
The responding officers instructed Anthony Rawls to put his
hands up in the air, and but reports state he refused. He reportedly then
pointed the gun towards his wife as the officers moved to the front porch.
The release then explains that an officer “rushed toward
Anthony Rawls to prevent him from shooting his wife. Rawls and one or more
officers fell against a front porch window causing it to break. As Rawls and
the officers fell away from the window, Rawls began to fire is .380 handgun.”
That is when the officers fired at Rawls, said the release.
Hartwig said in the release that the officer’s use of deadly
force “was justified under the facts of this case and the laws of the State of
Georgia, O.C.G.A. 17-4-10(b), in that they believed Anthony George Rawls posed
‘an immediate threat of physical violence to the officer(s) or others.’”
Warner Robins Police Chief Brett Evans said in a statement
released from the department, “I believe the facts of this case clearly show
the officers were acting within the law and in accordance with the policies and
procedures of the Warner Robins Police Department. They were protecting the
lives of those at the residence as well as their own that night. Anthony Rawls
posed a significant threat to his wife, Michelle, and to all of the officers
present.”
Evans goes on to say, “We continue to keep the Rawls family
in our thoughts and prayers as losing someone under any circumstance is always
a tragedy. I took the opportunity to speak with Mrs. Rawls personally and
informed her of the District Attorney’s findings. We ask that the family’s
feelings be considered during this time.”
Evans also said that the officers are off of administrative leave and have
returned to work.
HHJ News
