WAYCROSS, GA

On October 4, 2013 Jack Lamar Roberson was shot by police officers in his own home.

The fiancée of Roberson, Alcia Herron, called 911 for an ambulance because she was worried about the medication Roberson was taking.

He didn’t have nothing in his hands at any time or period at all before they came, any time while they were here, anything. They just came in and shot him. He didn’t say nothing, the police didn’t say nothing, anything, it was like a silent movie. You couldn’t hear anything, all you could hear were the gun shots go off and I seen them going into his body and he just fell down – Herron, First Coast News

According to the Waycross Police Department, the officers responded to a report indicating an attempted suicide on part of the Roberson residence. Roberson “had become combative” and, according to the police Chief Tony Tanner, “lunged at the officers with two weapons” (a knife) and when instructed by the officers to drop his weapon, Roberson refused.

Mr. Roberson’s mother, Diane Roberson, responded to this report saying:

If you’re any type of man you’ll come to me and you’ll tell me why you stood up there and told a lie. Two knives, we don’t own two decent knives – Diane Roberson, First Coast News

Although the events of the tragedy are recalled differently depending on who is asked, for police officers to fatally shoot a gunless man as a response to the household call for an ambulance is unacceptable. The witnesses, Roberson’s family, claim that the household did not possess a decent kitchen knife, yet the police believed the threat to be at such risk that they shot multiple times at Roberson until he died.

The autopsy has yet to be disclosed as of this time.

Nazzy S. is a writer for The Midnight Zone. Find her on Twitter.

Sources:

Woman Says She Called 911 for an Ambulance for her Fiancée, Cops Came and Shot Him Instead, Reason Magazine

Family of man shot by Waycross Police refute officers’ story, First Coast News

GBI: Autopsy for Waycross man killed in police shooting scheduled for Monday, First Coast News