Slain Georgia Tech Student Was the One Who Called 911

2 officers injured in protest outside campus police HQ
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 19, 2017 1:50 AM CDT
Violence Erupts After Vigil for Slain Georgia Tech Student
A truck loads a burned Georgia Tech police vehicle in front of the police station on campus in Atlanta on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017.   (AP Photo/Kevin D. Liles)

A police car was set ablaze and two officers were injured at Georgia Tech Monday night after a vigil for a student shot dead by police was followed by violence. Police say three people were arrested and charged with inciting a riot and battery of an officer, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. After the vigil for Scout Schultz, leader of the school's Pride Alliance, dozens of protesters marched to campus police headquarters, chanting "Justice now" and "This is not OK," CNN reports. Police say Schultz—who identified as non-binary and preferred the pronoun "they"—was shot after refusing to drop a knife. The student's parents say they don't understand why lethal force had to be used.

In a statement released through attorney Chris Stewart, Schultz's parents asked that "those who wish to protest Scout's death do so peacefully," the AP reports. "Answering violence with violence is not the answer," they said. Schultz was shot Saturday night after police received a call about somebody with a knife and possibly a gun. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Monday that it was Schultz who made the 911 call. The GBI said three suicide notes were found in the 21-year-old's dorm room. Stewart says that Schultz was suicidal and having a "full breakdown," but that the blade on the utility tool Schultz was holding was not extended and the officer who fired overreacted by shooting somebody who was not a threat. (More Georgia Tech stories.)

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