Police kill man said to be Autistic in Augusta, Georgia

Post Reply New Topic

Wednesday night's deadly police shooting in Augusta was the third officer-involved shooting there in the last five years.

Augusta police say officers responded to a shelter on Hospital Street to a report of a man threatening residents with a knife.

Augusta police say responding officers went inside a homeless shelter and were immediately confronted by Dustin Paridis, who they say was armed with a knife.

"It was almost immediately after them coming into contact with him is when the armed confrontation ensued," Augusta Police Chief Jared Mills said.

That's when police say Sgt. Chris Blodgett and Officer Sabastion Guptill both fired their weapons.

Paradis died at the scene

People who knew him say he was a person with autism.

"I don’t condone his actions at all,” former neighbor Brittany White said. “I don’t think that they were right at all, but I feel like if there was somebody in the police force that could identify an autistic person, they would know to handle it differently."

Augusta police officers are also trained in de-escalation techniques, but the chief says in this case, the threat was imminent.

Still, neighbors have questions.