Violence erupts during campus protest

Associated Press

ATLANTA

Georgia Tech alerted students to shelter indoors because of violent protests on campus Monday night after police fatally shot a student over the weekend.

The student had called 911 to report an armed and possibly intoxicated suspicious person fitting his physical description.

Campus police killed Scout Schultz, 21, who they said was advancing on officers with a knife. Schultz refused to put down the knife and kept moving toward officers late Saturday, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a statement.

“Officers provided multiple verbal commands and attempted to speak with [Schultz], who was not cooperative and would not comply with the officers’ commands,” the agency said in a statement. Schultz “continued to advance on the officers with the knife.”

After a Monday night vigil, the university issued an alert through its emergency system telling people to seek shelter and lock doors and windows because of violent protests. Video posted on social media showed a police vehicle burning in the street and officers pinning people to the ground.

Investigators have determined that Schultz was the one who called Georgia Tech police to report a suspicious person on campus, GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles said in an emailed statement Monday.

“In the call, Schultz describes the person as a white male, with long blonde hair, white T-shirt and blue jeans who is possibly intoxicated, holding a knife and possibly armed with a gun on his hip,” Miles said, adding that three suicide notes were found in Schultz’s dorm room.

Investigators recovered a multi-purpose tool that included a knife at the scene but didn’t find any guns, Miles said.

Chris Stewart, an attorney for Schultz’s parents, said Monday the GBI confirmed to him that the blade on the tool was not out.