Shock, sadness fill neighborhood after man killed by police

A west side neighborhood is shocked and saddened after a longtime resident was shot and killed by a Montgomery police officer Thursday morning.

At about 3:20 a.m. Thursday,  witnesses saw the unidentified officer shoot Greg Gunn, 58, in front of his next door neighbor's house, yards from his own home on McElvy Street in Mobile Heights.

Gunn’s next door neighbor, Colvin Hinson, said the officer shot Gunn “four or five times” in his front yard. The gunshots came after Hinson and other neighbors heard Gunn banging on Hinson’s window and screaming his neighbor’s name.

"He was banging on the window and calling my name as loud as you could call it, his voice raising more and more," Hinson said. "That was the only voice I heard. I didn't hear anybody say, 'Stop, halt, lay down.' Nothing."

Hinson was walking across the house to find his cell phone and dial 911 when he heard the gunfire.

Hinson walked out the door and saw Gunn dead on the ground and an MPD officer holding the gun. Three shell casings were sitting on his door mat.

"By the time I got to the door, the officer was standing there, my neighbor lying dead," Hinson said.

Scott Muhammad was staying in a house across the street and saw two people fighting in Hinson’s yard.

He saw one person get “thrown around” and decided to walk across the street to break it up. Only then did he see that an officer was present.

“It escalated. You could just feel the energy,” Muhammad said. “I turned around and told my wife to call the police. Then I saw him shoot four or five times and said, ‘Damn, that was the police.’”

Muhammad confirmed that Gunn was screaming for help.

“I saw when they killed him,” Muhammad said. “He was calling for his mother, his neighbor. He was knocking on the window.”

Muhammad also said he saw two officers on the scene: one laying in Hinson’s yard with a hand over his head and the other standing over Gunn. However, Public Safety Department spokeswoman Martha Earnhardt said there was only one officer involved.

After Gunn was killed, several more officers and an ambulance arrived on the scene. Muhammad said he didn’t see anybody check on Gunn.

“There were only two cops. Then other cars came, and an ambulance came,” Muhammad said. “The paramedic never even made it over (to Gunn). Nobody came and actually checked on this brother. Nobody tried any lifesaving techniques or anything like that. I watched the whole thing.”

Montgomery Police Chief Ernest Finley held a press conference Thursday morning and said the investigation was immediately turned over to the State Bureau of Investigation and Alabama Law Enforcement Agency as per protocol.

According to Finley, the officer fatally shot what he determined to be a "suspicious person."

No call was made to 911 about a suspicious person in the area. Finley said the officer noticed the person as part of his patrol and saw the male subject holding an instrument that Finley understood to be some kind of pole.

"It was part of his patrol duties, something he noticed at this time in the morning," Finley said while describing the event.

After the officer engaged the subject, the two struggled for about a block before the officer fired, shot and killed the subject, according to Finley.

Finley said the "young" officer has been on the force for about four years.

Perspective: Police, Greg Gunn and the search for facts

Gunn’s friend, Tarkisha Mathews, was playing cards with Gunn that night at a house down the street from where Gunn lived and was eventually killed. Mathews said she and Gunn left the house at the same time, and Gunn never had a weapon, including a stick or pole.

“We were right there playing cards,” Mathews said. “Greg didn’t have nothing.”

Mathews saw a patrol car slow down as it passed her and Gunn and said she hurried home. Mathews said a rash of break-ins have increased police presence lately in the neighborhood.

“When dusk starts, if you walk down this street, an officer is going to stop you. It’s ridiculous,” Mathews said. “We’ve been having a lot of break-ins around here so I know people call and ask for police, but not for this.”

Mathews was almost home when she heard “about five” gunshots. Sirens soon followed.

In the hours following Gunn’s death and Finley’s subsequent press conference, neighbors, friends and family of Gunn gathered on McElvy Street. Kimberly Gunn, Greg’s youngest sister, stood holding a picture of her brother. A neighbor paced the street chanting “How can you stop the violence when they started the violence?”

Finley said the MPD hopes to remain transparent about what transpired and will continue to support and assist the community.

He also said the MPD will continue to support the family as they grieve the loss and he met with the family for hours Thursday.

"We're going to be professional and support the family at this time. They are mourning the loss of their loved one," Finley said. “We want the community to know we will continue to be proactive and attend those community meetings and services.”

The officer involved is required to take at least 72 hours of administrative leave, and Finley said it's important to help the officer deal with the trauma as well.

"We will make sure that he's whole when he comes back," Finley said. "We talk about external, but internal, we have to make sure that our folks come back whole."

Still, Muhammad and many other neighbors are questioning the motives of the officer involved.

"Here's a question: Should a young, white male police a black community? They don't know us. The police brought violence to the community last night," Muhammad said.

Gunn’s sister Kimberly said Gunn’s routine was to come home at about 3 a.m. and go to work at 8 a.m.

“He did that every day, and he has never owned a weapon in his life,” Kimberly said. “You can ask anybody. My father didn’t bring us up like that.”

Gunn’s father, Frank Gunn Jr., was a Montgomery police officer, according to Kimberly.

The officer involved in the shooting is currently in isolation and on administrative leave. He will be interviewed by the SBI as part of the investigation. The SBI is also gathering information from the surrounding area. It is unconfirmed if the officer's body camera was on.

Montgomery County District Attorney Daryl Bailey said at a press conference this afternoon that the case would be presented to a grand jury once all the evidence had been collected and reviewed.

“I assure our community that once the investigation into this matter has concluded that the Montgomery District Attorney’s Office will review the evidence in a thorough manner and will conduct any additional investigation if it is deemed appropriate or necessary,” Bailey said.

He also said his office was not at liberty to release any information about the investigation, including how many officers were involved.

“I think it would be inappropriate to talk about that at this time,” Bailey said. “What I want the community to know is that we will be reviewing this. We have an investigative staff that’s skilled in investigations. “They will be looking at it and this matter, at the conclusion of the investigation, will be presented to a grand jury.”

SBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Joe Herman was also present at MPD headquarters, but declined comment saying it was too early in the investigation.

In a release from Sgt. Steve Jarrett of ALEA, "Nothing further is available as the investigation is ongoing. The SBI’s findings will be turned over to the District Attorney."

Reporter Kelsey Davis contributed to this report.