Officer Shoots and Kills Naked, Unarmed Man in Atlanta

A police officer shot and killed an unarmed African American who was found running naked around an apartment complex in Atlanta on Monday. The officer from Dekalb County was responding to a caller who said a man was "acting deranged, knocking on doors, and crawling around on the ground naked,"

The officer who is white encountered the individual at the parking lot of the complex. The man then charged at the officer, who backed up and ordered him to stop before firing two shots.

Considering the person was unarmed, the case has already been handed over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations for an independent probe. The recent shooting follows a string of incidents where unarmed black men in New York and Missouri were killed by police officers, leading to heightened scrutiny on the use of lethal force against minorities.

Public Safety Director of Dekalb County, Cedric Alexander said, ""What I have requested here [is] a result of what's going on currently across this country as it relates to police shootings."

Alexander added, "I can only reasonably assume that if he was running around the apartment complex naked, I believe we can make the assumption there may have been some mental health experience that he might have been having."

While police officers in Dekalb County are provided training to deal with people who are mentally ill, Alexander admitted in view of the recent incident that there was a need for more.

Alexander said, ""That's becoming more and more apparent. We have already, as many departments have begun to do, look at how to expand our mental health training when we find it certainly necessary to do so. Because it appears that we're seeing more and more of these cases across the country in which police are engaging with those who appear to be in distress."

The police office is a seven year veteran on the job and has now been placed on administrative leave. At the time of the incident, he did have access to pepper spray and a stun case. His reasons for drawing his firearm is expected to be revealed during the investigation.

"I think in all fairness we need to wait and see what the outcome of the investigation is because I can't tell you, beyond what I have told you so far, what kind of measures that officer may have taken," he added.