An investigation by
A young mother dies after police fire eight bullets through her car windshield. A teen, lying face down, is killed when an officer fires two bullets in his back. More than 180 Georgians were fatally shot by police. Nearly half were unarmed or shot in back. Not one officer faced criminal prosecution. A year-long investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Channel 2 Action News exposed flaws in the way the state handles police shootings and led to grand jury reform that Gov. Nathan Deal signed into law in April 2016. Reporters analyzed thousands of pages of records and conducted more than 100 interviews with prosecutors, police, grand jurors, family members and others in the most comprehensive review of police shootings in Georgia history. Details of each case are available in an online database that identifies every fatal police shooting in Georgia since 2010 and continues to be updated when new incidents occur.
SERIES FEATURES
Unarmed and shot in the back
Nearly half the 184 Georgians shot and killed by police since 2010 were unarmed or shot in the back, an Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Channel 2 Action News investigation has found. AJC analysis casts doubt on claims that police shootings are always lawful.
'THIS WAS A MURDER AND IT WAS COVERED UP.’
Former DAs say their boss breached ethics, mishandled fatal police shooting of Caroline Small.
171 shot dead, zero prosecuted
Wide latitude for police to shoot, unique grand jury privileges and DA discretion add up to no prosecutions for officers who kill in the line of duty.
Unlikely activists target Ga. mom’s shooting
Georgia police shooting sparks ‘Justice for Caroline’
Shot at home
Calls for help ended in death. Home is where many deadly police shootings occur.
Did Caroline Small have to die?
Police shooting of Caroline Small was ’worst’ ever seen, GBI agent says. Officers were cleared in 2010 case riddled with special treatment, AJC investigation finds.
Shot in the back
New evidence in the controversial shooting death of an unarmed black teenager by a white Union City Police officer contradicts the official account and casts doubt on the officer’s justification for pulling his trigger, an investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Channel 2 Action News has found.
DATA & GRAPHICS
Data: Explore the cases
Take a deep dive into our visual database containing information about all 184 police shooting cases.
Interactive: Police shootings in Georgia
Take a look at the numbers behind the AJC's year-long investigation of Georgia's 184 police shootings since 2010.
VIDEOS
SERIES FOLLOW UPS
Design and Development by Ashlyn Still
Data Editing by Jeff Ernsthausen and Jennifer Peebles
Research by Patti DiVincenzo, Jodie Fleischer, Brad Schrade, Jared Loggins, Ciara Bri’d Frisbie, Taylor Carpenter and Sean Sposito
Narratives by Jared Loggins and Jennifer Peebles
Video by Elissa Benzie
Series edited by Ken Foskett
Icons from the Noun Project: Fire by Loren Klein, Wood by Norbert de Graaff, baseball bat by Plainicon, Hammer by Edward Boatman, Knife by Alex Auda Samora, Gun by Robert A. Di Ieso, Close by Remco Homberg, missing person by Studio Het Mes, click by Spencer Loveless
An investigation by