CAMDEN COUNTY, Ga. – New information has been released in the fatal police shooting of 27-year-old Gregory Paige, who was killed by officers earlier this week inside his girlfriend’s apartment at the Cumberland Oaks complex.
For the first time, authorities have released a photo of Gregory Paige, a Jacksonville resident.
The Branch President for Camden County’s NAACP chapter, Timothy Bessent Sr., and other community leaders also spoke Thursday evening at the apartment complex where the shooting happened.
“Show us the bodycam. Let the bodycam speak for itself,” Bessent Sr. said. “If there was a weapon to vindicate their actions, I’m convinced that would have been the first thing [the police] said...And the officers know he’s in there by himself, so he’s not a threat to the community or anybody else. So why was there a strategy to negotiate with the man to come out?”
Gregory Paige’s mother, Lacinza Paige, spoke with News4JAX, recalling their Friday night movie tradition.
“On Friday nights, we used to sit up and watch movies together. Tomorrow is Friday, and I don’t have my baby to watch movies with,” she said.
Questions still remain following the officer-involved shooting that left Gregory Paige dead on Sunday evening.
Officials released limited details about what led officers to shoot the 27-year-old inside an apartment at the Cumberland Oaks apartment complex. However, on Thursday, News4JAX obtained a copy of the police report that includes summaries from two of the three St. Marys Police Department officers involved in the shooting.
A video circulating on social media also gives some insight into how the incident unfolded, and other videos obtained by News4JAX show the chaotic aftermath.
According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), the agency now investigating the shooting, police officers responded to a 911 call reporting Paige was “making threats to kill” a woman and was “grabbing her aggressively.”
Officials said St. Marys police officers and Camden County Sheriff’s Office deputies tried to enter the apartment to arrest Paige, but “encountered” Paige in the doorway of the apartment. During this “encounter,” two St. Marys Police Department officers fired their weapons, hitting Paige, GBI said. No officers were injured.
In the police report obtained by News4JAX, a sergeant wrote that when the officers entered Paige’s apartment, “he lunged back away” from them, drew his right hand from behind his back, and pointed it at them. That’s when the officers fired at Paige.
Another officer wrote in the report that “he heard a gunshot and saw a muzzle flash,” and he returned fire toward Paige.
A video posted on Facebook by a community member shows officers standing outside the apartment complex and then walking toward the apartment’s doorway.
Moments later, at least 10 gunshots can be heard in the video. It is unclear if Paige had a weapon at the time of the shooting.
Bessent posted a video of the shooting on Facebook and wrote, “We deserve to know the entire truth of what happened.”
Disclaimer: The following video contains some profanity and may be disturbing to some viewers. Discretion is advised.
Residents told NewsJAX on Tuesday they’re stunned by the incident — and they want answers.
News4JAX reached out to the St. Mary’s Police Department to ask if there is body camera footage of the incident and if Paige had a weapon during the encounter, but at the time of this publication, we hadn’t heard back.
Once the GBI investigation is complete, the findings will be turned over to the Brunswick District Attorney’s Office for review.
The NAACP’s full conference can be watched below.
