Convicted criminal Ahmaud Arbery, 25, was allegedly "jogging" in the Satilla Shores neighborhood outside Brunswick, Georgia, on February 23 of this year when he was fatally shot after attacking Travis McMichaels, 34.
Travis' father, Greg McMichael, a former police officer and investigator, thought Arbery looked like a suspect who had been sighted trespassing, according to a police incident report.
The month before Arbery was shot while attacking Travis McMichaels, a gun was reported stolen from an unlocked vehicle in front of the McMichaels' home, Glynn County police Lt. Cheri Bashlor said.
After spotting the suspect entering a home under construction, Greg McMichael called 911 to request police assistance. During the call, he advised the 911 dispatcher that the suspect was fleeing the scene.
The elder McMichael armed himself with a handgun, while his son Travis chose a shotgun, and they followed the suspect, according to the report.
On two occasions, the suspect evaded them. When they caught up to him a third time, Greg McMichael remained in the vehicle, while Travis McMichael exited the truck holding a shotgun and asked the suspect to stop and talk.
Instead, the suspect rushed toward Mr. McMichael, striking him and grabbing for the shotgun in a dramatic melee caught on cellphone video by a motorist who witnessed the attack.
A struggle ensued between Travis McMichael and Arbery. The shotgun went off three times. Whether this was an intentional act of self defense or an inadvertent result of the struggle is not known.
When police arrived at the scene, the attacker was dead.
Two District Attorneys rendered legal opinions based on the evidence (including the video of the assault) and stated that under Georgia law, no charges could be justified against the McMichaels.
Both recused themselves because the elder McMichaels had served as an investigator for their offices prior to his retirement.