BRUNSWICK, Ga. _ Moments after Ahmaud Arbery collapsed to the ground, felled by three gunshots, his killer blurted out, "expletive N-word," one of his co-defendants told police.
Travis McMichael, 34, fired the fatal shots. William "Roddie" Bryan, who used his pick-up truck to help trap Arbery inside the Satilla Shores neighborhood on Feb. 23, said he overheard McMichael use the racial epithet, according to Rick Dial, the GBI's lead investigator in the case.
That admission will almost certainly factor into the Justice Department's decision whether to pursue federal hate crime charges against Arbery's accused killers. Dial, testifying Thursday at a probable cause hearing for the three defendants charged with Arbery's murder, said the 25-year-old victim was killed after he was trapped a second time between the vehicles driven by Travis McMichael and Bryan, 50.
Arbery, according to Dial, was running toward the McMichaels truck. Greg McMichael, Travis' father, was in the bed of the pick-up; Travis McMichael was aiming his shotgun at Arbery from outside the driver's side door.
Arbery changed direction and tried to pass the truck on the passenger's side, where he encountered Travis McMichael again and, this time, "makes a decision to engage," Dial testified. Greg McMichael, 64, told police at the scene he had advised his son not to shoot at Arbery, Dial testified. The first shot hit him in the chest, according to Dial, who said Arbery's white shirt was instantly soaked with blood.
He was shot two more times, near the left armpit and on the wrist. Return for updates.
