Georgia grand jury: Officer-involved shooting justified
Published 4:50 pm Thursday, May 10, 2018
THOMASVILLE, Ga. — A white drug enforcement agent who shot a black suspect last year in a small south Georgia town will not face charges.
Thomas County drug squad agent Josh Smith shot and killed Herbert Gilbert on Aug. 15, 2017.
A Thomas County, Georgia, grand jury said Thursday it concluded the officer-involved shooting was justified.
Southern Judicial Circuit District Attorney Brad Shealy presented the case to the grand jury Wednesday. The presentment was returned in Thomas County Superior Court Thursday morning to presiding Judge Frank Horkan Jr.
“I agree with the decision of the grand jury,” Shealy said. “The grand jury found the shooting was justified under the law, based on the facts of the case.”
“While the death of Mr. Gilbert is tragic, we find that it was justified under the law,” grand jurors stated in their presentment. “Accordingly, we recommend that no further action be taken in this matter.”
The shooting
On the day of the shooting last year, a drug squad was attempting to serve a warrant on Gilbert at his Magnolia Street residence.
Drug squad commander Louis Schofill said he had received complaints from the Thomasville Police Department regarding drug activity at Gilbert’s address a few days prior to the incident, according to the presentment. Schofill, Smith and three other drug agents were serving the warrant.
According to court documents, the grand jurors heard evidence that Gilbert attempted to run down agents with his SUV and Smith fired into the oncoming vehicle.
“Agent Smith fired seven rounds into the windshield in rapid succession as he was getting out of the way of the vehicle and fired the final round in the passenger window as the car went by him,” the presentment stated.
Emergency medical services personnel arrived on the scene shortly after. Gilbert had multiple gunshot wounds and died as a result, according to the presentment.
Gilbert was found with marijuana and $883, according to authorities.
Following the shooting, Thomas County Sheriff Carlton Powell said the GBI was handling every aspect of the investigation, which would determine if the action was appropriate for conditions.
“We let an outside set of eyes take a look at the sequence of events,” he said.
The three agents present were wearing body cameras at the time of the shooting and the footage was viewed by the grand jury. The video has not yet been released to the public.
Community response
Following the Aug. 15 shooting, a number of protests, marches and a prayer vigil took place in Thomas County.
Members of Black Lives Matter Greater Atlanta and the Southeast Region of the Black Panthers took part in one of the marches.
One of the marchers, Chico Davis, said he witnessed the shooting but at the time refused to give his statement to the GBI. He claimed three children were standing on porch in clear view of the incident, adding it took the ambulance “37 minutes exactly,” to arrive at the scene.
“We do not hate cops, we just hate injustice,” Davis said. “We’ve been peaceful this whole time, (and) we’re going to remain peaceful.”
There were no protests or marches in the community Thursday afternoon following the grand jury’s decision.
Timeline
In January, 16 members of a grand jury started hearing the case.
It was determined one juror lived outside Thomas County after the first day of hearing the case, reducing the number of jurors to 15. Sixteen of the 23 jurors must be present to take action.
At the time, the grand jury heard close to 50 other cases. A new grand jury was empaneled in April.
“It lingered for almost a year,” Shealy said Thursday.
Last August, Shealy explained to community members the legal process of an officer-involved shooting.
A civil grand jury would be the first to hear the officer-involved shooting case. That grand jury would issue a recommendation either to push the case to a criminal grand jury or not. If a civil grand jury recommends no criminal charges be pursued, the case is closed.
“As far as our office, this closes the matter,” Shealy said Thursday.
Gilbert’s family, Shealy pointed out, could pursue legal action.
“I’m very sympathetic toward the family,” Shealy said. “I’m very sorry that they’ve lost a loved one.”
