- Athens-Clarke County Senior Police Officer David Harrison and Officer Charles Bidinger responded to a 911 call regarding a knife-wielding man on Monday
- According to Harrison and Bidinger, when they arrived a Aaron Hong appeared to be using the knife in an aggressive way and harming himself with the blade
- When the officers approached, he began advancing towards them with the blade in his hand and can be seen repeatedly to comply with their demands to ‘Stop!’
- Hong can be heard calling out ‘do it’ several times to the officers, goading them to shoot him in what appears to be an attempted suicide by cop
- Hong suddenly charges at the noticeably panicked officer, prompting him to fire seven shots which down the 23-year-old momentarily before getting up
- ‘Shoot me,’ Hong yells, before charging at Harrison again, grabbing him by the shoulders and reaches for the officer’s gun as Bidinger shoots him dead
Two officers from a Georgia police department are being investigated after they shot-dead a knife-wielding man who urged them to ‘just kill me’ during a heart-stopping stand-off.
Athens-Clarke County Senior Police Officer David Harrison and Officer Charles Bidinger responded to a 911 call regarding a man – later identified to be Aaron Hong, 23 – clutching a butcher’s knife and causing a disturbance at the River Club Apartments, in Athens.
According to Harrison and Bidinger, when they arrived a bloodied Hong appeared to be using the knife in an aggressive way and harming himself with the blade.
When the officers approached, he began advancing towards them with the blade in his hand and can be seen repeatedly refusing to comply with their demands to ‘Drop the knife!’ and ‘Stop!’, in footage captured by their body cameras.
According to Harrison and Bidinger, when they arrived a bloodied Hong appeared to be using the knife in an aggressive way and harming himself with the blade
When the officers approached Hong, he began advancing towards them with the blade in his hand and can be seen repeatedly refusing to comply with their demands to ‘drop the knife’ and ‘stop’ (pictured: Hong throws his blade towards Harrison and begins charging at him)
Hong can be heard calling out ‘Do it!’ several times to the officers, goading them to shoot him in what appears to be an attempt to commit suicide by cop.
As Hong continues to advance, both of the officers walk backwards in tandem, pointing their guns at the suspect the entire time as they back-step their way up the River Club driveway, all the way to the to the Macon Highway.
With Harrison crying out ‘Please put the knife down. Don’t do this,’ Hong suddenly charges at the noticeably panicked officer, prompting him to fire seven shots which down the 23-year-old momentarily before he springs back up to his feet, blood-soaked.
‘Shoot me,’ Hong yells, before charging at Harrison again, grabbing him by the shoulders and appearing to reach for the officer’s gun.
‘He’s going for my gun’ Harrison yells, as Bidinger rings out four more shots over his head.
Hong drops back down to the ground but this time falls silent and does not get back up.
Paramedics immediately began treating Hong but he was pronounced dead at the scene. Harrison suffered minor injuries and was treated by EMTs, Bidinger was unharmed.
Both the officers have been placed on administrative leave, pending investigations from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Western Circuit District Attorney’s Office
Athens-Clarke County Police Chief Cleveland Spruill says he expects the two officers will be cleared of any unlawful conduct during a news conference on Tuesday.
In review of both of the officers’ body cameras, Spruill said the officers appeared to be in imminent threat of injury or death and expected the two men to be cleared of any criminal wrongdoing.
Harrison is a seven-year veteran of Athens-Clark Police Department, meanwhile Bidinger is in his first year of service.
Athens-Clarke County Senior Police Officer David Harrison
Officer Charles Bidinger
