Man who recorded Ahmaud Arbery shooting speaks out: "Complete shock"
Federal investigators are being asked to investigate the handling of the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, a black man who authorities say died at the hands of two white men as he ran through a neighborhood in Georgia. Meanwhile, the man who recorded the fatal shooting is speaking out.
William Roddy Bryan, who spoke exclusively to CBS affiliate WJAX-TV, said he was in "complete shock" after witnessing the deadly confrontation.
"I have never been involved in anything like that before," he said.
Arbery was shot and killed February 23. No arrests were made until this month after national outrage over the case swelled when video surfaced that appeared to show the shooting.
CBS News correspondent Omar Villafranca reports that Kevin Gough, Bryan's attorney, says his client only drove to the scene after he saw commotion from his home.
"It's not a surprise that if people are seeing something that doesn't look right, that they would look into it," Gough said.
Shortly after the video's leak, Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis McMichael, 34, were arrested and charged with murder and aggravated assault. The arrests came hours after officials asked the GBI to start investigating. The inquiry was previously in the hands of local officials.
The father and son said they thought Arbery matched the appearance of a burglary suspect who they said had been recorded on a surveillance camera some time before.
Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, has said she thinks her 25-year-old son, a former high school football player, was just jogging in the neighborhood before he was killed. Jones and the family attorney, Lee Merritt, said they believe Bryan, the man who shot the video, should also be charged.
"While he was videoing, he should have been trying to, to aid in a situation and maybe he would have stepped in a little. He's still with us today," Jones said.
But Bryan says he is innocent.
"I had nothing to do with it," he told WJAX. "I am trying to get my life back to normal, and it's been smeared for the last week. Um, I was told I was a witness and I am not sure what I am."