Killing of Julian Edward Roosevelt Lewis

Lewis was a 60-year-old Black semi-retired carpenter[2][3][4] from Sylvania, Georgia.[5]

Thompson, who is white, was 27 years old at the time of the shooting.[2][3][4][1] He joined the Georgia State Police on July 28, 2013.[4]

According to a Georgia State Patrol (GSP) report, around 9 p.m. on Friday, August 7, 2020, Thompson attempted to stop Lewis's Nissan Sentra for a broken taillight on Stoney Pond Road near Sylvania, Georgia, in a rural part of Screven County about 60 miles northwest of Savannah.[2][3][4][1] According to a Lewis family attorney, Lewis had gone to a convenience store to buy a grape soda for his wife and was on his way home at the time.[1] Lewis did not stop and Thompson briefly chased Lewis down several rural roads.[2][3][4][1] Thompson forced Lewis's car to stop in a ditch[2][1] using a "precision intervention technique" or "PIT maneuver".[3][4]

According to Thompson's report of the incident, after Lewis's vehicle stopped, Thompson pulled up alongside and drew his handgun as he exited.[4][1] Lewis revved his car's engine and Thompson activated the light on his gun.[4] Thompson saw Lewis with both hands on the steering wheel,[1] "wrenching the steering wheel in an aggressive back-and-forth manner towards me and my patrol vehicle."[4] Thompson wrote that Lewis "was trying to use his vehicle to injure me" and that, "Being in fear for my life and safety, I discharged my weapon once."[4] According to prosecutors, Thompson fired one shot "at some point", striking Lewis in the face and killing him.[2][3] According to an attorney for Lewis's family, Thompson shot Lewis "almost immediately" after the PIT maneuver.[2]

Thompson reported that he unsuccessfully tried to help Lewis after shooting him.[4] Lewis was pronounced dead at the scene.[3][1] Thompson was not injured.[2]

According to their attorney, Lewis's family did not learn about his whereabouts or death until around 1 a.m. the next day.[1]

Thompson was fired, arrested, and charged with felony murder and aggravated assault on August 14, 2020.[2][3][4][1] He was booked into Screven County Jail.[3]

An autopsy of Lewis's body is being conducted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.[3]

A candlelight vigil was held for Lewis on August 14 in front of Sylvania City Hall[3][4] with funeral services held the following day.[1]

According to the Associated Press, Thompson "was charged amid a national outcry over racial injustice" after the recent deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Rayshard Brooks.[2] Lewis's family attorney described the decision to fire and arrest Thompson only a week after Lewis's death as a surprise, which he believed was a direct result of protests surrounding the police killings of Floyd and Breonna Taylor earlier in 2020.[1] The Georgia NAACP described the killing as "a case of racial profiling".[2]

• Lists of killings by law enforcement officers in the United States

• GBI press release
• Statement by Lewis family attorney
• Statement by Georgia NAACP
• Hansen, Zachary; Sharpe, Joshua (August 14, 2020). "Civil rights probe launched after Ga. trooper charged with murder, attorney says". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved August 16, 2020.