COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) – A lawsuit has been filed against the Columbus Police Department in connection with a May 2022 officer-involved shooting that left one person injured.
WRBL News 3 obtained bodycam video from the 61 page court documents filed in U-S District Court in the Middle District of Georgia. The plaintiff, Janathaen Strum, claims in his suit against the City of Columbus, the Police Department, Chief Freddie Blackmon and others, that he was shot in the back by Officer Shane Abreo on the night of May 29, 2022.
In the suit filed by Strum, he claims he was unarmed with his empty hands in the air when the shot was fired.
The May 2022 incident happened on Urban Avenue in East Columbus when police responded to a shooting. Police say when they arrived Strum was holding a gun.
Following the Officer Involved shooting the Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over and conducted an independent investigation into the incident. According to the GBI, it was later learned a woman had been shot prior to officers responding. She had been taken by friends to Columbus Regional Midtown Hospital for treatment.
Strum is claiming unreasonable and excessive use of deadly force.
