Waycross police officers claim they responded to a report of attempted suicide and were told that Roberson was combative.
Upon arrival, Roberson allegedly "lunged" at the officers with two "weapons" and refused to drop them. That's when they fired, claims Police Chief Tony Tanner.
Roberson's family tells a different story.
Read more from First Coast News:
"He didn't have nothing in his hands at any time or period at all before they came, any time while they were here, anything. They just came in and shot him. He didn't say nothing, the police didn't say nothing, anything, it was like a silent movie. You couldn't hear anything, all you could hear were the gun shots go off and I seen them going into his body and he just fell down," cried Alcia Herron, Roberson's fiance.Roberson's mother, Diane Roberson, echoes Herron's horror:
Herron said she called 911 to call an ambulance for Roberson. She said she was worried about medication he took for his diabetes, but instead of paramedics, officers arrived at the home on Reed Street.
"We called 911 for my son cause he wasn't feeling good so instead of 911 coming, the police came and they rushed in and my son came out of the kitchen, him and my daughter-in-law," said Roberson to WJXT. "Police rushed in and my son went to the living room door. The police came in, pulled his gun out, my son put his hands up and they shot him, they shot him down."
Roberson's mother also said her son didn't have any weapons.
"If you're any type of man you'll come to me and you'll tell me why you stood up there and told a lie. Two knives, we don't own two decent knives," she said of police.
In addition to his mother and fiancee, Roberson's 8-year-old Zelphia Roberson also watched helplessly as police killed her father before her eyes.
The results of Roberson's autopsy is pending.
The Georgia Bureau of investigations is currently investigating and the officers involved are on paid administrative leave.
Reader Comments
yet, I believe it. Sorry to hear about the loss. May his family destroy that p.d. (legally)
Again, a parent was killed while his child, his mother and his fiancee were watching. This is unconscionable.
Jack Lamar Roberson's mother said it all: "If you are any type of man, you come to me, you tell me why, why you stood up there and told a lie..."
But they are not men, are they?
It has become increasingly clear that the police are training to murder civilians any chance they get.
Incredible that the cops alledge they were responding to a suicide call. So what, they came to kill the guy instead of him killing himself? Ridiculous.