WAYCROSS, Ga. Two teenage boys were arrested on gun charges and other counts after a Georgia police officer attempting a traffic stop fired multiple gunshots at their car, according to police.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has launched an investigation of the incident Saturday morning in Waycross near the Georgia-Florida state line. Two boys, ages 16 and 15, were inside the car when a Waycross police officer approaching from the front opened fire, saying the vehicle had begun driving toward him, the GBI said.
Nobody was hurt by the gunfire. Before the shooting started, three younger children ages 14, 12 and 9 ran from the vehicle, the GBI said in a news release Saturday. The agency said the officer who opened fire had come to assist another Waycross officer who began following the car after witnessing the driver commit a traffic violation.
A statement from Waycross police said two officers have been placed on administrative leave while the GBI investigates, which is customary in Georgia.
Waycross police also said both teenagers inside the car were arrested on charges of illegal possession of a firearm by a minor. The 16-year-old driver was also charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, reckless driving, running a stop sign and driving without a license.
The 15-year-old passenger was also charged with additional crimes of obstruction of a police officer and attempting to remove an officer’s firearm, according to the statement from Waycross police, which did not release the boys’ names.
Atlanta attorney Gerald Griggs, a vice president of the citys NAACP chapter, said the Georgia NAACP wants police to immediately release body camera and dash camera footage of the attempted traffic stop.
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