The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) is currently looking into an officer-involved shooting that took place in Savannah, resulting in the death of 27-year-old Mark Dennis Whibbey, Jr., as confirmed in a press release by the agency. The incident occurred yesterday, and the Savannah Police Department had promptly called in the GBI to lead the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
The situation began to unravel when police officers responded to a 911 call around 1:30 p.m., reporting a man displaying a firearm in the street outside a business on West Congress Street. Subsequent reports detailed an individual potentially engaging in shoplifting and carrying a firearm within a convenience store located at Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and Bay Street, the man now known to be Whibbey. The preliminary details reveal an attempt by an officer to non-lethally subdue him with a taser, which proved to be unsuccessful.
Known facts indicate that officers encountered Whibbey and issued directives for him to drop the firearm he wielded. Ignoring the commands, Whibbey continued walking north along Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, heading toward the Riverwalk area, where the confrontation escalated. The attempts by the police to bring the situation under control included isolating Whibbey in an expanded section of the Riverwalk.
Surveillance footage from the scene, as per the GBI official statement, shows that Whibbey started pacing with the gun at his side and, despite repeated orders, walked toward both civilians and officers. It was when Whibbey appeared to reach behind his back towards an object in his waistband that five Savannah Police Department officers discharged their weapons, critically hitting him several times. Medical aid rendered at the scene was not enough to save Whibbey's life.
With Whibbey pronounced dead at the location of the incident, his body is scheduled to be transferred to the GBI Pooler Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy. The GBI is urging anyone with information regarding the shooting to reach out to their Regional Investigative Office at +1-770-388-5019 or to submit tips anonymously by calling 1-800-597-TIPS(8477), online, or through the download of the See Something, Send Something mobile app. The findings of the GBI's investigation will be handed over to the Eastern Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for a full review once concluded.
