Video After The Jump
ATHENS, Ga. (WSAV) – Authorities have identified a young man who was shot during an encounter with police in Athens Monday.
According to the Athens-Clarke County Police Department (ACCPD), the deceased is Aaron Hong, 23, of Athens-Clarke County resident.
The department on Tuesday also released body camera footage from two responding officers with a warning that the content may be upsetting to some.
Around noon on Monday, officers were called to 1005 Macon Highway for a report of a man “armed with a knife, covered in blood, and acting erratically.” The address is located in River Club Apartments, described as a complex for University of Georgia students.
Upon arrival, ACCPD says the man was still armed with the knife. They say he was given numerous commands to drop the knife by police, but he disregarded.
In the body camera footage, officers repeatedly ask Hong to put the knife down as he continues walking towards them with it in hand. At one point, he runs toward one officer who subsequently fired at him.
The footage shows Hong getting back up. Both officers tell him to get on the ground, but he doesn’t and is seen charging at the first officer again.
That’s when the second officer fired shots; the first also saying Hong tried to grab his gun.
“Two officers fired several rounds at the man,” the department stated. “He was treated at the scene by paramedics but succumbed to his wounds and pronounced dead at the scene.”
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) has been called in to investigate. The agency says officers received minor injuries during the incident that were treated on the scene.
GBI added that this is the 39th officer-involved shooting they have been requested to investigate this year.
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