Student activist Scout Schultz was shot and killed by Georgia Tech's campus police, who claim they were armed and dangerous. Video of the situation tells a very different story, with Schultz clearly upset and distressed before being shot to death — and the "knife" police say they found was actually part of a closed multitool.
Their parents says that Schultz, who served as president of Georgia Tech's Price Alliance, struggled with depression and mental health issues. Their death could have been prevented had campus police been unarmed and trained to deal with deescalation in mental health crisis.
Sadly, this is a story that happens all too often for mentally ill people in the United States, especially those like Scout who were LGBQTIA, as well as people of color.
Campus cops can't get away with murder: Georgia Tech needs to release the name of the officer involved, submit to a robust external investigation and eventual trial, and discuss radically reforming its policies and procedures.
If the university won't disarm its entire campus police force, it should consider sending most officers out on patrol with nonlethal options to hand so they can work to defuse situations like this one rather than killing innocent students.Photo: Pride Alliance at Georgia Tech