Parents of a 21-year-old Georgia Tech student who committed suicide by cop on Saturday are venting their anger at the police for not using a Taser.
Scout Schultz, who was born a male, suffered from the mental disorder Gender Dysphoria. He identified as bisexual, non-binary and intersex and referred to himself in the third person as “them”, “their” and “they,” according to his mother Lynne.
Campus police responded to a 911 call about a “person with a knife and a gun” at 11:17 p.m. Saturday.
In a scene that has become all too familiar for parents of unarmed black men who are killed by police, Schultz was gunned down as he advanced toward Georgia Tech cops. He was carrying “a small knife” according to his father.
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Cell phone footage shows Schultz walking slowly toward officers shouting “shoot me!”
“Nobody wants to hurt you man. Drop the knife,” the officers yelled.
As he walked closer to the officers, a shot rang out and Schultz fell to the ground, screaming in pain.
Shultz’s parents say the police should have used a Taser or non-lethal means to subdue him. They say the police may have triggered Schultz by referring to him as a man.
THe Lilburn, Ga. native was studying engineering and was president of the Gay Pride Alliance at the Georgia Tech campus in downtown Atlanta.
Schultz’s parents hired an attorney who plans to hold a press briefing on Monday.
Attorney L Chris Stewart says he will question whether the campus police were trained to deal with mentally ill students like Schultz.
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