Authorities have confirmed the official cause of Ahmaud Arbery’s death. The late 25-year-old was killed by a father-son due in February while jogging near his home in Brunswick, Georgia, on Feb. 23.
According to TMZ, Abery died from 2 shotgun wounds, and also suffered a third. An autopsy conducted by the Glynn County Coroner on Feb. 24, which determined shooters killed him with two close-range shotgun blasts in his chest. X-rays also revealed two different clusters of buckshot pellets. The video of the confrontation, which went viral last week and eventually led to the arrest of Gregory McMichael and his son Travis McMichael, three shots can be heard. It’s now clear he was struck by all three.
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The father-son duo was arrested on Thursday after the case had been taken over by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation from local police. “Our goal in every investigation is to seek the truth,” GBI Director Vic Reynolds told reporters Wednesday. “And that’s exactly what we intend on doing in this matter. I realize that emotions are running high in this community, and they’re running high throughout the state, and the last thing anyone wants to do is extend us any patience. But I also realize that this investigation must be done correctly, and therefore I must ask for a little of your patience.”
On Friday, the two appeared in court via video conference before Glynn County Magistrate Judge Wallace Harrell. The judge read the men their rights and the aggravated assault and felony murder charges, while they only spoke to confirm their names. Outside the courthouse, organizers gathered to sing “Happy Birthday” for Arbery, who would have had his 26th birthday on Friday.
While the arrest appeased Arbery’s family, they were vocally unhappy over the fact that it took several weeks before authorities took action. “They did not arrest the killers of Ahmaud Arbery because they saw the video,” family attorney Ben Crump told the Associated Press. “They arrested the killers of Ahmaud Arbery because we saw the video, the public saw the video, and it went viral. It was shocking. People were astonished.”
Gregory McMichael, a former police detective and district attorney’s office investigator, said they armed themselves and chased Arbery in their truck while he was jogging. They had also stated that they believed he fit the description of a suspect in a recent string of burglaries in the area and chased him in their truck before the fatal confrontation.
