Georgia AG vows investigation into handling of Ahmaud Arbery’s death

Georgia’s attorney general vowed to investigate further the death of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old black man who earlier this year was fatally shot while jogging.

Attorney General Chris Carr said, “I will be looking into how the Ahmaud Arbery case was handled from the outset,” according to an interview with The Washington Post.

Video of the shooting on Feb. 23 went viral earlier this week. It showed two white men tracking down a running Arbery using a pickup truck and killing him with a shotgun over alleged reports that he was responsible for a recent string of neighborhood burglaries.

The men in the video have been identified as Gregory McMichael, a retired 64-year-old district attorney’s investigator, and his 34-year-old son, Travis McMichael. They were arrested and charged with murder Thursday and denied bond Friday.

Still, many officials are outraged over the handling of the case and the fact that it took 74 days for authorities to charge the two men. 

Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) called the incident “disturbing and wrong,” while Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) added that the case needed a “swift and immediate” investigation.

“The family, the community, and the state of Georgia deserve answers,” Carr said, adding, “We need to know exactly what happened, and we will be working tirelessly with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Brunswick community, and others to find those answers.”

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation will handle the case along with District Attorney Tom Durden of the Atlantic Judicial Circuit, according to the report.