An autopsy reveals a local Atlanta rapper was shot 17 times in the back by an off-duty police officer, an update that has only intensified outrage among his family and friends, who are demanding the cop be criminally charged.
Linton Blackwell, a 44-year-old father of twin daughters and fixture in Atlanta’s music community, also known as “B-Green,” was shot and killed on October 11 outside Five Paces Inn in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta.
“This [has] devastated our family,” Blackwell’s cousin Jimmy Hill, told Capital B Atlanta. “They never did say he pointed a weapon at that officer.”
Atlanta police officer Gerald Walker, who was working a side security job at the bar, shot Blackwell after responding to reports of a “disruptive person,” according to police.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation reported that Walker saw Blackwell attempting to re-enter the bar through a back entrance. Blackwell walked away toward a nearby parking lot, got into a car, and “put an item in the small of his back.”
Walker issued commands “in reference to a gun” before opening fire, the report stated. Blackwell was pronounced dead at the scene and investigators recovered a firearm.
But Blackwell’s loved ones, including Timothy Coleman, who was Blackwell’s manager and longtime friend, dispute the notion that he posed a threat. The autopsy findings have only deepened their mistrust.
“I just couldn’t believe it was 17 times in the back,” Coleman told WXIA. “There’s not one shot in the front.”
Coleman added there was an altercation inside the bar earlier in the night, but he maintains the shooting was unjustified.
“If he wasn’t pointing a gun at you or doing anything, what does that have to do with shooting him in the back 17 times?” Coleman said. “That means he wasn’t facing you. He wasn’t a threat.”
Instead, Coleman believes Walker chased Blackwell before killing him. The officer was not injured.
“The officer ensued, chased him down and gunned him down… that’s what we know,” he said.
He described Blackwell as a devoted father with deep ties to Atlanta’s music scene.
“He was a loving family man,” Coleman said. “He just leaves a lot behind.”
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is leading the probe into the case and then it will be turned over to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office, which will determine whether Walker’s actions were justified or if he will face criminal charges.
The Atlanta Police Department has also opened an internal investigation.
“I want him locked up,” Coleman added. “Gerald Walker needs to be behind bars.”
