Family and friends of Linton Blackwell took to the podium at City Hall on Monday to express their frustration with the Atlanta City Council over the lack of accountability for police officers who use lethal force. “I want to understand why this officer, Gerald Walker, is not being held accountable for my brother’s death. He […]
police shooting
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
History of Complaints Against Officer Who Shot Atlanta Rapper Highlights Culture of Tolerance, Critics Say
Atlanta police officer Gerald Walker, who fatally shot rapper Linton Blackwell outside a Buckhead bar on the night of Oct. 11, was already under investigation for another shooting earlier in the year. Walker, who was working an off-duty security job during the October shooting, was on-duty the night of March 26, 2025, when he shot […]
Posted inNews
Homelessness, Police Shooting, Data Centers: Top 10 Atlanta Stories of 2025
From City Hall to Magic City, Capital B Atlanta reporters covered breaking news, secured exclusive interviews with newsmakers, unearthed painful history, and published groundbreaking enterprise stories that resonated online and on social media. Here are our top 10 stories of the year. Georgia is quietly working on building the largest ICE facility in the country, […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Off-Duty Police Officer Who Shot Atlanta Rapper Had Disciplinary History
Outside a Buckhead bar on the night of Oct. 11, Linton Blackwell was shot and killed by Gerald Walker, an off-duty Atlanta police officer. Since the shooting, Blackwell’s family and friends have been trying to piece together what happened the night the father of twin girls was killed and why the officer decided to use […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
17 Shots: Witness Describes Shooting of Atlanta Rapper by Off-Duty Police Officer
Linton Blackwell, a 44-year-old father and local rapper who was killed earlier this month by an off-duty Atlanta police officer, had approximately 17 gunshot wounds, according to the autopsy report created by a Fulton County medical examiner. The report documented two bullet wounds in the right upper back, one in the buttocks and 14 in […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Family Questions Police Account of Fatal Buckhead Shooting by Off-Duty Officer
At a balloon release in DeKalb Memorial Park last week, dozens of friends and family members gathered to remember Linton Blackwell, a man they said would do anything for his family, especially his twin daughters. “He’s an angel gone too soon, but he will watch over us,” Faith Harper, his aunt, told Capital B Atlanta […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
FBI Charges Georgia Sheriff in Fatal Shooting of Black Man Freed by Innocence Project
Buck William Aldridge, the sergeant with the Camden County Sheriff’s Office accused of turning a routine traffic stop in 2023 into a deadly altercation that killed 53-year-old Leonard Cure, has been indicted on civil rights violations by a federal grand jury. Just three years before he was killed, Cure, a client of the Innocence Project […]
Posted inCourts, Criminal Justice
State NAACP Calls for Appeal in Fatal Atlanta Police Shooting After Judge Drops Charges
Jimmy Hill is determined to continue his fight for justice after a federal judge decided Tuesday to drop the charges against retired Atlanta police officer Sung Kim, who shot and killed his son Jimmy Atchison in 2019. “Change ain’t going to come if we sit back and wait on others,” Hill told Capital B Atlanta […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
Viral Sermon Blaming Black Parents for Police Killings Sparks Mother’s Day Protest
While many Atlanta families were getting ready for church or preparing Mother’s Day brunch on Sunday, Jimmy Hill stood alone in protest outside one of Atlanta’s fastest-growing houses of worship, 2819 Church. Located in southwest Atlanta — and boasting 800,000 followers on YouTube and nearly half a million on Instagram — the church went viral […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
Judge to Decide Whether to Move Forward With Trial in Fatal Police Shooting of Jimmy Atchison
Jimmy Hill became visibly emotional on Monday as he watched retired Atlanta police officer Sung Kim testify for the first time in federal court about fatally shooting Hill’s son, Jimmy Atchison. Hill told Capital B Atlanta after the evidentiary hearing that he got caught up in the moment during Kim’s remarks, which he characterized as […]