ATLANTA -- 11Alive News has obtained new information in a death investigation involving Gwinnett Police officers.
On July 11, 35-year-old George Mann died while in the custody of Gwinnett County Police. The investigation was immediately turned over to the GBI; the day after Mann's death, the agency said in an initial statement that Mann became unresponsive soon after being drive stunned with a Taser, and later died.
But in a Gwinnett County police report, newly obtained by 11Alive News, there is no mention of a Taser ever being used.
Officers responded to a home on Rock Place Drive after a 911 call that Mann had been acting strangely. In the descriptive two-page narrative, the officer describes Mann yelling from inside of a neighbor's closed garage, shouting "let me out of here" and "I'll shoot all of you."
Mann's family does not deny that he was on drugs, stating he had a relapse. In the report, the officer says when asked, his sister listed cocaine, heroine, methamphetamine and hallucination drugs as substances Mann had used in the past.
The report goes on to detail what happened that day: the officer writes that he "attempted to handcuff George" and "gained control of (his) legs to keep him from kicking (the other officer)."
The report continues: "after George was handcuffed, we sat him up and moved him outside to the driveway. When we moved George to the driveway he stopped flailing and was not responsive."
According to the report, officers immediately began performing CPR and used an AED to try to revive Mann until paramedics arrived.
But the report does not detail how Mann went unresponsive. The GBI's initial statement was released the day after Mann's death: there was an altercation when officers made contact with Mann and he was "drive stunned with the Taser when he resisted officers."
Mann's family has hired an attorney and private investigator to learn what happened on July 11th. Family attorney Scott Hoopes called the police report "shocking" to Mann's family.
"The fact that the GBI says, wait a minute, there was a taser, and now we have the incident report from Gwinnett Police that says there was no taser -- it's inconsistent and the family wants answers," Hoopes said.
The GBI said the case is still under investigation and cause of death has not been released. In a statement to 11Alive News, the Gwinnett County Medical Examiner's office said Mann's case is pending toxicology results and could take months to complete.
