Allen, Gibson Call on DOJ to Investigate Davis Case; Condemn Community Retaliation

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A Bibb commissioner and Macon City councilman are calling on the  Department of Justice to look into the shooting death of Sammie Davis, Jr. last December, saying they still have a lot of unanswered questions.

In front of Macon City Hall, Councilman Henry Gibson and Commissioner Joe Allen held a news conference just hours after District Attorney David Cooke’s announcement that there will be no criminal charges against Officer Clayton Sutton.

Gibson and Allen say there are too many holes in the story for the case to be closed, and that their experience as police officers tells them Macon police did not handle this case correctly.

“The officer pushed Mr. Davis away, and then shot him 3 times,” Gibson charges. “That, as a law enforcement officer, I have a problem with. There was no more immediate danger at that time.”

Allen says Macon Police did not follow proper protocol, launching an internal investigation before they got the GBI involved. 

“The first thing that should have been done is that they should have called the GBI in to start with,” he says. “Secondly, then, if [the people] do not feel that something was justified then you bring in the Justice Dept., let them look at it, and when they give their conclusion, we’ll live with their conclusion.”

Both Allen and Gibson say they’ve gotten numerous calls to their offices from citizens, outraged by Tuesday’s announcement. Both are telling the public to remain calm, and let the government do its job–they also warned if anyone tries to retaliate in any way, the law will deal with them immediately.