Family demands release of bodycam footage of deadly police shooting in Clayton County

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. - Charles Calhoun's family says he had a gun the morning of March 23 because he thought his home was being robbed.

"He’s not a villain," said Chelsea Calhoun, his daughter. "He was a homeowner protecting his family, protecting our house."

Clayton County police said they responded to Jenni Circle that morning after neighbors called reporting shots fired. Officers confronted the 68-year-old in his driveway.

"[Officers] gave him verbal commands to drop his weapon, he did not. He pointed his firearm or long gun, which we believe to be a shotgun, towards officers," Clayton police chief Keith Roberts said on the morning of the shooting. "An officer discharged his long gun striking and fatally injuring [Calhoun]."

Sheryl Calhoun, his widow, said she was not home the morning of the shooting, but he told him on the phone that morning that he believed someone was trying to break in.

Charles Calhoun's family says he had a gun the morning of March 23 because he thought his home was being robbed.

"I don’t understand it and I want to know if something went wrong," said Sheryl Calhoun. "I need to know what caused him to take my husband’s life."

Mawuli Davis, an attorney for the family, described Calhoun as a retired grandfather with a good heart.

"He was just merely trying to protect his own home when this happened," Davis told reporters Friday. "We’d like for body cam footage to be released so that we can see, the family can see and be clear about what happened that night."

The GBI told FOX 5's Rob DiRienzo that they did not have any updates on the case Friday.

Clayton County police did not respond to requests for comment or to obtain the body camera video.

Family members claim that police responded to the scene without lights and sirens on, and approached Calhoun from the backyard as he stood in the front.

"If they had made it known who they were, or he saw it was a police officer, and they had not come at him from behind, he would have [dropped his gun], because he’s not a violent person," said his widow Sheryl.

"They took my son’s best friend," said his daughter Chelsea. "They took my daddy away from me."

Davis said Calhoun will be laid to rest on Saturday at noon at Central Holiness Church in Atlanta.

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