The father of a slain Georgia Tech student spoke out on Monday after his child Scout Schultz was shot dead by campus police the previous evening.

Police claim they fired on the 21-year-old leader of the school's Pride Alliance when Schultz refused to drop a knife and advanced on officers, but lawyers for the family say it was a multi-tool gadget and not a weapon.

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William Schultz said his child was a stellar student with a 3.9 GPA and on track to graduate early. Scout, who was gender nonbinary and preferred not to be identified with masculine pronouns, had attempted suicide two years previously.

According to Scout's father, however, Scout had received counselling and did not appear distressed when dropped off at Georgia Tech last month.

The family's lawyer, Chris Stewart, added that a photo of the incident shows that Scout appeared to be suffering a mental breakdown, and was not posing a threat to the officers.

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The university is refusing to release the contents of the 911 call relating to the incident in Atlanta, as well as any dashcam or body camera footage, following a request from The Associated Press.

A statement from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation reiterates the police account that Scout had advanced on the officers with a knife. However, local broadcaster WSB-TV reported that the item, which was still on the ground when the station arrived, appeared to be a half-open multi-tool with none of the gadgets extended.