GBI: Activist fatally shot after wounding state trooper bought gun legally

ATLANTA — The 26-year-old activist shot to death by law enforcement in Atlanta last week legally purchased the gun he used to shoot a state trooper, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation reported.

Manuel Esteban Paez Teran was shot last Wednesday at the site of the future Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, a project that has drawn protests for more than a year from activists deriding it as “Cop City.”

Teran was shot as multiple law enforcement agencies were removing 25 campsites from the area. Officers returned fire after Teran did not comply with verbal commands and instead shot and wounded a state trooper, according to the GBI.

During the operation, officers arrested seven people, all in their 20s and 30s and from outside of Georgia. Officers recovered mortar-style fireworks, multiple-edged weapons, pellet rifles, gas masks, and a blow torch during the operation.

More arrests took place Saturday night in downtown Atlanta when protesters turned violent, setting fire to a police car, throwing rocks, and setting off fireworks.

Activists have questioned the law-enforcement version of the incident and called for the release of bodycam footage. While the GBI reported that the officers who were near the incident at the time of the shooting were not wearing body cameras, the agency said there is bodycam footage of the aftermath.

The planned training center would include classrooms, a shooting range, a building firefighters would use for putting out practice fires, stables for police horses, and a driving course for emergency vehicles.

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