LGBT student president shot dead by campus police

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The 21-year-old student president of Georgia Tech’s LGBT society has been shot dead by a campus police officer.

Scout Schultz, a fourth-year student who identified as bisexual, non-binary and intersex, was killed on Saturday night.

Scout, who studied computer engineering at the university, was armed with a knife and was moving towards officers when they shot them, according to police.

(Facebook/GT Progressive Student Alliance)
(Facebook/GT Progressive Student Alliance)

Video footage of the incident shows Scout advancing in the direction of the police.

One officer shouts: “Come on man, drop the knife.”

Scout appears to respond: “Shoot me!”

An officer tells them: “Nobody wants to hurt you, man,” while another says: “Relax.”

They continue to tell Scout to drop the weapon, but as the student continues to advance, one of the officers shoots them.

(Facebook/Scout Schultz)
(Facebook/Scout Schultz)

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is conducting an independent investigation into Scout’s death.

In a statement which misgendered Scout and misspelled their name, Georgia Tech Police Department said it “received a 911 call of a person with a knife and a gun at approximately 11:17 p.m.

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“Officers arrived and made contact with Shultz [sic] who was armed with a knife.

“Officers provided multiple verbal commands and attempted to speak with Shultz [sic] who was not cooperative and would not comply with the officers’ commands.

“Shultz [sic] continued to advance on the officers with the knife.

“Subsequently, one officer fired striking Shultz [sic]. Shultz [sic] was transported to Grady Memorial Hospital where he [sic] died.”

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The 21-year-old’s mother asked why police had needed to kill her child.

Speaking to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, she asked: “Why didn’t they use some non-lethal force, like pepper spray or Tasers?”

The Georgia Tech Progressive Student Alliance wrote on Facebook, saying: “We are distraught over the loss of Scout Schultz.

“They were an incredible, inspirational member of our community and a constant fighter for human rights.”

The group is organising a memorial this afternoon, “celebrating and honouring their life and the contributions they made to campus and the greater Atlanta community,” and will hold a vigil tonight.

“We love Scout deeply,” the group added, “and we hope you will join us, along with Pride Alliance at Georgia Tech, to share memories of their beautiful life.”

In the comments under the post, people have posted hateful GIFs celebrating Scout’s death.

And on Scout’s profile, a debate is raging over the legality of their death.

Content warning: this video of the shooting contains upsetting images

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