Officers in ‘Cop City’ raid shot pepperball gun into activist’s tent first

The new records sent to the Guardian through a public records request by the Georgia department of public safety reveal the previously unreleased written narratives of the officers involved, including the lead-up to the police clearing of the forest, what happened during the shooting and the immediate aftermath. The officers' names are redacted.

Through their lawyers, the family said: "The officer narratives released today by the department of public safety were drafted weeks or, in some cases, months after the incident. When officers drafted these statements, each had the opportunity to review the publicly available video and the press releases issued by the GBI [Georgia bureau of investigation]. As the GBI has acknowledged, 'memory and perception are fragile', and outside factors can influence witness statements." Brian Spears, a lawyer for the family, said the records show the officers prepared their narratives in February and March, long after the shooting.

Officers wrote that the bureau had conducted an investigation ahead of the operation, and briefed them before they entered the forest.

According to the written narrative of an officer who held the title of tactical commander on the Swat team, the bureau gave officers an operational order packet that detailed the organizational structure of Defend the Atlanta Forest, that alleged the group had nationwide reach, citing solidarity actions in Portland in late 2022, and had committed crimes that fell under domestic terrorism.

The bureau told them of various weapons the demonstrators might possess and tactics they could use. The Georgia bureau said the protesters were armed with rifles, pistols, improvised explosive devices and molotov cocktails. It said protesters had set "booby traps" in the forest, including trip wires and sharp nails and stakes that officers might step on, that "were designed and employed to seriously injure or kill them". One officer wrote in his report: "I remember thinking that this group was organized and very dangerous."

The bureau also said that protesters in the trees might throw feces and urine on officers, and "it was known that some trespassers carried STDs" and this tactic might infect officers with STDs.

The bureau said the strategy that day was "to remove the criminal trespassers from Cop City", according to the Swat team tactical commander. When they encountered a demonstrator who identified themselves and cooperated, the bureau instructed them to order them to leave, and they would be allowed to leave without arrest.

According to body cam footage previously released by the Atlanta police department, the clearing operation began before 9am on 18 January.

There were three search teams of officers deployed into the forest, the incident report says. Team 2 was a Swat team that included bureau agents, officers from Atlanta police department, and rangers from the department of natural resources who had police dogs.

Team 2 planned to enter their "area of operation" from Constitution Road, moving from south to north on the west side of the forested property. The Swat team adopted a line formation to move through the forest.

The officers encountered several demonstrators in tents, but said they were not aggressive.

They then approached a larger encampment. As they approached one tent from behind, one officer said he could see movement inside the tent. The door flap to the tent was closed.

The officer narratives conflict on exactly what happened before the pepperball gun was deployed.

The officer reports agree that after the pepperball gun was fired, the gunfire started. They believed the shots were coming from inside the tent. Officers could hear the rounds "cracking" as they passed.

One officer pulled another out of the way, causing the other to lose his balance and fall to the ground. Another officer wrote that he believed the fallen officer had been shot.

One officer wrote that when they believed they were no longer in danger, they stopped shooting into the tent. Another officer wrote that he heard a voice call "cease fire, cease fire" and then heard a voice from his left side say, "I'm hit, I'm hit."

At 9.01am, officers at a different location in the forest heard shots in the distance, according to body cam footage previously released by the Atlanta police department and reviewed by the Guardian. Four shots rang out followed by a flurry of shots. The shooting lasted about 11 seconds. At 9.02am, officers heard on their radios: "Officer down."

Police body cam footage also shows officers discussing the shooting minutes later, with one officer asking, "Did they shoot their own man?" In response to the video, the bureau said the officer was speculating that the officer was shot by another officer in crossfire. "Speculation is not evidence," the bureau said. "Our investigation does not support that statement."

According to the report, officers involved in the shooting were escorted out of the woods by a bureau agent, and then met with investigators from the Georgia state patrol's office of professional standards and investigating agents from the bureau.