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GBI: Five Savannah Officers Fatally Shoot Armed Man in Downtown Savannah

The state bureau is leading an independent investigation with a referral to the district attorney to follow.

Overview

  • Authorities identified the deceased as Mark Dennis Whibbey Jr., 27, of Seabrook, South Carolina.
  • Police responded around 1:30 p.m. to 911 reports of a man waving a firearm and a separate call about shoplifting with a gun near Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Bay Street.
  • Officers issued repeated commands to drop the weapon and a Taser deployment failed, according to the GBI.
  • Surveillance video shows Whibbey pacing with a gun, then moving toward civilians and reaching toward his rear waistband before five officers fired, striking him multiple times.
  • Medical aid was provided and he was pronounced dead at the scene; an autopsy is pending, the involved officers are on paid leave, no officers were injured, and investigators are seeking tips.