Video from the dash camera of a Claxton Police Department patrol video shows the temperament and demeanor of a man who later died in an officer-involved shooting with an Evans County Sheriff’s deputy over the weekend.
Public records indicate that the man who died during the altercation was detained twice by law enforcement officials earlier in the evening, but was released instead of being booked at the Evans County jail.
Background.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was contacted overnight on May 9, 2020 after an Evans County deputy, whose name has not been released, fired a duty weapon upon 47-year-old Yassin Mohamed in unincorporated Evans County. Preliminary information from the GBI indicates multiple encounters between Mohamed and law enforcement in the days and immediate 12 hours leading up to the shooting, culminating in an incident in which Mohamed reportedly threw rocks at the deputy, striking him once. According to the GBI, Mohamed then charged the deputy with one of the rocks, at which time the deputy fired his service weapon three times. Mohamed was pronounced dead at the scene and an autopsy will be conducted.
Video from the dash camera of a Claxton Police Department patrol video shows the temperament and demeanor of a man who later died in an officer-involved shooting with an Evans County Sheriff’s deputy over the weekend.
Public records indicate that the man who died during the altercation was detained twice by law enforcement officials earlier in the evening, but was released instead of being booked at the Evans County jail.
It was not clear Wednesday if the fatal shooting was captured on the dash camera of the deputy or if the deputy’s vehicle was even equipped with a dash camera, but a law enforcement official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, did state the rocks varied in size and included at least one ‘approximately the size of a softball.’
Shooting Incident Preceded by At Least 2 Earlier Encounters That Evening.
A report released by the Claxton Police Department under the Georgia Open Records Act indicates Mohamed was detained earlier in the evening by Claxton police officers who were asked to assist the Evans County Sheriff’s Office.
Claxton Police Officers Dustin Skipper, Wesley Kennedy, and Jeb Cowart responded to a call outside the city limits but within the boundaries of the county at approximately 10:30 p.m. on Friday, May 8. The call was in reference to a man in the roadway who was hitting an Evans County EMS ambulance. While officers were en route, it was relayed that the man had walked into someone’s yard, picked up a pipe and was carrying it while walking in the middle of East Long Street. Dispatch notifies Officer Skipper that attempts have been made to contact Evans Memorial Hospital but they ‘cannot get an answer.’ The hospital was contacted because of an earlier call involving an escaped 10-13 (police code: involuntary commitment) hospital patient. Authorities sought to confirm the identify of the patient, though Yassin Mohamed was later determined not to be the same individual from the earlier 10-13 call.
Dash camera footage shows officers arriving on the scene illuminated by EMS lights to find Mohamed in the middle of the road with the pipe. As Officer Skipper activates his blue lights and slows to a stop, Mohamed begins approaching the vehicle with ‘what appeared to be a blank stare mindset,’ according to the incident report.
According to an incident report made by responding officers:
“Officer Skipper noticed the male grabbed the pipe with both hands and drew back as if he was going to strike Officer Skipper’s patrol unit. Officer Skipper then opened his drivers door and hollered, “Hey don’t you hit my damn car!’ As Officer Skipper done this the male subject struck the patrol unit on the drivers front fender. The male subject then continued to strike the drivers side of the car as he was walking towards the opening of the doorway. Officer Skipper then drew his service weapon and ordered the subject to get back…
The subject continued to advance towards Officer Skipper and was not complying with commands given to him. Officer Skipper quickly attempted to put his service weapon in its holster and exit the vehicle so he was not confined to the small area. Officer Skipper ordered the subject back again in which he ignored. Officer Skipper then exited the patrol unit where he tackled the subject face to face to the ground. As he done this, Officer Skippers service weapon fell from his holster due to not being completely secured. Officer Skipper ordered police officer Wesley Kenneedy whom was riding along with Officer Skipper, to grab the gun. Officer Skipper then attempted to place the male subject into custody, but had to be assisted by EMS personnel. The male subject was handcuffed behind his back….at that time Officer Skipper noticed that the male subject had urinated on himself.”
After Mohamed is subdued and in handcuffs, Skipper radios that the subject is ‘10-95’ (police code: in custody) and can be heard calling for county law enforcement to assist in further action, per policy for city assists. EMS checks on Officer Skipper and indicates they had another call come in and need to leave. Deputy Stewart and supervisor Lieutenant Felton “Duck” Brewton, both from the ECSO, arrive on scene and conversation captured on dash camera video shows the deputy and CPD officers discussing the preceding chain of events.
Officer Skipper is also heard on body cam footage saying “he’s [Mohamed] the guy Duck’s been dealing with…”
“This is all Duck’s fault anyway. Duck should have carried him on to the jail [referencing an earlier incident in the evening with Mohamed prior to the current incident in progress],” another officer can be heard saying.
Story continues below.
The video, which was edited only to redact the identifying license information of Mohamed, is below. WARNING – Contains graphic language. Story continues below.
Media Coverage of the Shooting.
The story has already been covered internationally, garnering coverage by The Daily Mail and MetroUk. The more specific details made available from the Claxton Police Department do refute an early narrative by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) which contends that Mohamed was targeted because of his race, his Muslim faith, and for ‘jaywalking.’ One CAIR director called the shooting “identical” to the Ahmaud Arbery incident, the Glynn County shooting from February that made headlines for a number of reasons, to include the invocation of the ‘citizens arrest’ statute, the conflicts of interest by the District Attorney’s Office, and the lack of investigatory action by prosecutors.
What’s Next.
We have requested a number of items from the Evans County Sheriff’s Office under the Georgia Open Records Act, to include: the CAD report, radio traffic audio files, any dash cam and body cam footage, and any incident and arrest reports involving Yassin Mohamed in the possession of the Office.
Additional information will be published as it becomes available. Some items will not be available until the GBI concludes its investigation and the district attorney’s office has made a recommendation.
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