A current Georgia police officer and a former one have been indicted in the 2022 shooting death of a man inside his home in suburban Atlanta, authorities said Wednesday.
A grand jury handed up charges of felony involuntary manslaughter and misdemeanor reckless conduct against former DeKalb County Police Officer Russell Mathis, 30, and charged Officer Jordan Vance, 30, with reckless conduct, county prosecutors said in a news release.
DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston announced the charges during a press conference as the family of 36-year-old Marando Salmon watched, WAGA-TV reported.
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The charges stem from the Nov. 4, 2022, shooting of Salmon inside his home in Stone Mountain. According to the preliminary investigation, the officers responded at about 11 p.m. to a call about a stolen car parked in the driveway of a home.
Vance knocked on the house's front door, which freely swung open. and the officers entered. As they cleared the house, Mathis opened the door to a second-floor bedroom and found Salmon sitting on a bed in the dark.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said officers identified themselves and "issued commands" but Salmon did not comply. The GBI initially alleged that Salmon reached for a handgun and was shot, but in a later report officials said Salmon threw an object at an officer who had opened a bedroom door.
"Although the officer did not see Salmon touch a firearm, he was reaching for a nearby item," the GBI report reads.
That’s when Mathis allegedly opened fire, shooting and killing Salmon.
Boston said the officer told the grand jury he believed the object was a knife, but it turned out to be a cellphone, the television station reported.
At the time of the shooting, Salmon was unarmed, but a holstered gun was later recovered in the bedroom. Paramedics transported Salmon to Grady Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Mathis and Vance are expected to surrender to the county jail in the coming days. A trial date has not been set.
