Parents question police response in campus killing
Scout Schultz, the Georgia Tech Pride Alliance leader who was shot and killed by campus police late Saturday night, was the person who called 911. The caller said there was a person, possibly intoxicated, with a knife and possibly a gun outside a dormitory on the campus.
Schultz left three suicide notes in their dormitory room. The student leader used the pronouns they, them and their, rather than he or her. (See The Gayly’s earlier coverage of Schultz’ death at Campus pride leader killed in police shooting.)
Schultz suffered from depression and had once attempted suicide. Their parents said their child had received counseling, and appeared to have no problems when they dropped Schultz off for his final term in school.
“The developments added further layers of complexity to the death of Schultz, a 21-year-old who led the university’s Pride Alliance and had a history of mental illness,” according to a Washington Post report on the killing.
“The officer who fatally shot a Georgia Tech student had been with the campus police department for about 16 months, according to state records,” according to the Associated Press. The officer was identified as Tyler Beck by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
“Beck became an officer with the campus police department on May 21, 2016, according to records from the Peace Officer Standards and Training Council, or POST, which certifies law enforcement officers in Georgia. Georgia Tech has refused to release any personnel records for Beck,” the AP report continued.
“The POST records show Beck completed 492 hours of training in 2016 and 64 hours of training so far this year. But it does not appear from the records that any of the training courses focused specifically on dealing with people with mental health problems.”
On Monday night, despite warnings from Georgia Tech officials to remain inside, students demonstrated against the killing. The protest later turned violent. (See coverage of the protest and violence here.)
Schultz’s family urged protesters to remain peaceful. The family’s lawyer said they intend to sue over Schultz’s death. They question why the officers responding to the call did not resort to non-lethal alternatives, such as a taser or pepper spray, rather than killing their child.
Copyright The Gayly – September 20, 2017 @ 7:30 a.m. CDT.