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Olajuwon James

Age : 21

Gender : Male

Race : Black

Date : 08/26/2025

Location : Campus Evolution Villages apartment complex

City : Statesboro

County : Bulloch

State : Georgia

Agency : Statesboro Police Department

Officer(s) :Officer Adam Paquette

Cause of Death : Suicide

Event : Suicide under police duress

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 10/04/2016, at approximately 1:08 a.m., Statesboro police responded to Campus Evolution Villages at 1699 Statesboro Place Circle after receiving a report of an armed home invasion and robbery. Police alleged that three men had entered a residence and held people inside at gunpoint. Officers from the Statesboro Police Department, Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office and Georgia Southern University Police Department searched the apartment complex after receiving descriptions of the men.
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Police located one man near the scene and arrested him. Officers then encountered 21-year-old Olajuwon James of Hinesville. Police attempted to use a Taser on James, but it did not incapacitate him. James ran from police and was later located behind another residence within the apartment complex.
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During the second encounter, Statesboro Police Officer Adam Paquette reported that James had a firearm. Paquette fired two shots during the confrontation. James suffered a gunshot wound to the head and died at the scene. Initial police and GBI statements did not establish whose gunfire had caused the fatal wound.
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A preliminary autopsy subsequently established that neither of Paquette’s two shots struck James. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation determined that James died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. GBI Special Agent-in-Charge Bahan Rich publicly confirmed the autopsy findings and James’s identity.
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The later account established that James shot himself before he could be taken into custody and that Paquette fired after hearing the gunshot. James’s death therefore qualifies as suicide under police duress because he killed himself while police were actively attempting to arrest him after a foot chase and unsuccessful Taser deployment.
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The Georgia Bureau of Investigation conducted the independent investigation into the encounter and shooting.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
Adam Paquette was the Statesboro police officer who fired two shots during the encounter with Olajuwon James. The autopsy and subsequent investigation established that neither of Paquette’s bullets struck James.Paquette also initiated a separate high-speed vehicle pursuit in Statesboro in which a Bulloch County sheriff’s deputy ultimately used a PIT maneuver to stop the vehicle on Highway 301 South

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.statesboroherald.com/local/update-suspect-dead-after-armed-robbery-in-statesboro-officer-involved-shooting/
https://www.statesboroherald.com/local/gbi-suspect-died-from-self-inflicted-gunshot-wound/
https://coastalcourier.com/news/public-safety/gbi-says-local-man-shot-himself-after-robbery/
https://www.wtoc.com/story/33310553/spd-gbi-investigates-officer-involved-use-of-force-by-statesboro-police/
https://www.statesboroherald.com/local/police-continue-to-investigate-shooting-deaths/
https://www.statesboroherald.com/local/chase-ends-with-pit-maneuver-and-arrest/