By Police1 Staff
SAVANNAH, Ga. — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into a fatal police shooting of a handcuffed, armed man in a patrol car.
According to WTOC, police arrested 29-year-old Charles Smith on outstanding warrants Thursday and placed him, handcuffed, in the back of a cruiser.
Smith then moved his hands to his front and kicked out the vehicle’s window in an escape attempt.
Smith was shot after police say they saw that he was carrying a firearm. Investigators found a weapon under Smith’s body after he was killed.
Officer David Jannot, a 10-year veteran of the department, has been placed on paid leave following the incident.
The fatal shooting has caused outcry from the public. The Atlanta-Journal Constitution reports a crowd marched Thursday night to the Savannah police station in protest of the shooting.
The incident was reportedly caught on camera.
“I don’t believe it. They didn’t find the gun when he was frisked and put in the police car. It was a big gun,” Rev. Dr. Leonard Small told the Atlanta-Journal Constitution. Small spoke to the large crowd of protestors following the shooting.
Mayor Edna Jackson tried to reassure the crowd Thursday, promising to keep the community informed.
“This will be cleared up, this will be cleared up,” Jackson told the crowd.