A former Georgia cop has turned himself into police to face charges for the fatal shooting of a 20-year-old man.
A grand jury indicted ex-Woodstock Police Officer Grant Matthew Shaw for the killing of Emmanuel Millard after a police chase on Oct. 12, 2023, in Cherokee County.
That night, police tried to pull Millard over for multiple traffic offenses in Woodstock, but Millard fled, which started a pursuit.
Officers had to use a Pursuit Intervention Technique (PIT) to stop him, which caused his car to crash five miles away in Cobb County.
According to the indictment, as officers attempted to remove Millard from the car to arrest him, Shaw shot him in the head. Millard was taken to a local hospital in critical condition, where he died two days later.
The indictment states that “while in the commission of reckless conduct, an unlawful act,” Shaw caused the man’s death “without any intention to do so, by pointing a Glock model 34, 9 mm firearm at Emmanuel Malik Millard while his finger was on the trigger, thereby endangering” his “bodily safety.”
The family’s attorney, Andrew Lampros, viewed the unreleased bodycam footage of the incident.
“[Millard] showed him his hands, he was fully compliant and told him to get out of the car, and as he went to get out of the car, he shot and killed him,” Lampros said. “Traffic stops are not supposed to end in the death of the person who was stopped, especially when they present no danger to themselves or anyone else.”
A week after the shooting, Shaw resigned from the Woodstock Police Department, where he had worked since 2021.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation conducted an independent investigation into the shooting and released its findings to the Cobb County District Attorney, who presented it to a grand jury.
That grand jury indicted Shaw earlier this month on an involuntary manslaughter charge. He surrendered to the police on April 22. The officer is being held at the Cobb County jail without bond.
“I see him, I hear his voice, it has been tremendously hard,” Millard’s mother, Lenette Millard, told WSB-TV. “I just want him to get the full extended punishment. You destroyed a family. You took a life that was supposed to live for years,” she also said of Shaw.
“We know he’s guilty,” Joseph Francis III, Millard’s father, added.
The city of Woodstock released a statement after Shaw’s charge was announced.
“The Cobb County District Attorney’s office conducted an investigation into the death of Emmanuel Millard, and the City of Woodstock fully cooperated with the district attorney’s office during its investigation. The City of Woodstock respects the judicial process and the work of the Cobb County District Attorney’s office and grand jury in the Emmanuel Millard case. The city will await the outcome of the trial before issuing any further comment. The best source of information regarding the criminal investigation and the grand jury process is the Cobb County District Attorney.”
