ATLANTA — The NAACP has issued a statement about the police shooting death of a 21-year-old black man in Atlanta.
21-year-old Jimmy Atchison was shot and killed on Jan. 23 at an apartment complex in Atlanta’s Adamsville neighborhood. According to FBI spokesman Kevin Rowson, Atchison was a suspect in an armed robbery and officers went to the apartment to serve a warrant when he jumped out of a window, and down a couple of floors and fled. Officers found him in another apartment in the complex and an Atlanta police officer working with an FBI task force fired the deadly shot.
Atchison’s family said he was unarmed and hiding in a closet when he was killed – and they are wondering why the officer had to use lethal force.
"I just want to know for sure if my nephew had a weapon, or, and where, was he shot at," said Tammie Featherstone, Atchison's aunt. "Those are my main two concerns."
RELATED: Family of man killed in officer-involved shooting says he was unarmed and hiding in a closet
On Monday, the NAACP issued a statement on Atchison’s death, asking for a meeting with Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields to discuss the shooting:
“The NAACP is investigating the officer-involved shooting of 21-year-old Jimmy Atchison. We have serious concerns about the shooting of the unarmed father of two in the heart of the historic southwest Atlanta. We humbly demand a meeting with Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields immediately to discuss this incident,” the organization stated.
The FBI and GBI are investigating the shooting. The Atlanta police officer who fired the weapon has not been identified.
This was the second deadly officer-involved shooting in Atlanta within a 7-day span. The week before Atchison died, an officer in plain clothes shot and killed 18-year-old D’ettrick Griffin after Griffin allegedly stole the officer's unmarked police car at a gas station.
The officer opened fire, hitting Griffin as he drove away. The teen crashed into two cars, and later died at the scene.