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Kevin Dubois

Age : 31

Gender : Male

Race : Unknown

Date : 12/27/2021

Location : 628 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd

City : Savannah

County : Chatham

State : Georgia

Agency : Savannah Police Department

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Gunshot

Event : Killed by police after reported robbery

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 12/27/2021, Savannah Police Department officers responded at approximately 7:00 p.m. to a 911 report of an armed robbery in progress at Beauty & Beyond, 628 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Savannah. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation later identified the man police killed as Kevin Dubois, 31, of Savannah.
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According to the GBI, officers encountered Dubois holding a handgun and ordered him to drop it. Police alleged that Dubois did not comply and instead ran from the officers. Officers pursued him on foot.
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The GBI reported that during the foot pursuit, Dubois allegedly pointed the handgun toward the pursuing officers. Two Savannah Police Department officers then opened fire and struck him. Contemporary reporting confirms that two officers fired, but their identities were not publicly released at the time.
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Police administered first aid after the shooting. Dubois was transported to a Savannah hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Investigators reported recovering a handgun and bundles of money from the scene.
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Savannah Police Department investigated the reported armed robbery, while the Georgia Bureau of Investigation conducted the independent investigation into the police shooting. The GBI stated that once its investigation was complete, the case would be forwarded to the Eastern Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for review.
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The Dubois shooting was the second fatal Savannah Police Department shooting within less than a week. On December 21, officers had also shot and killed Shawn Martin. Contemporary reporting noted that Savannah recorded four police shootings during 2021, compared with two during 2020.
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The shooting also became the 100th police shooting that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was asked to investigate during 2021.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The two Savannah Police Department officers who shot Kevin Dubois have not been publicly identified in the sources located for this case.
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Savannah Police Department had body-worn cameras widely deployed before this shooting; the department reported in 2016 that all patrol officers were equipped with body cameras. This makes body-camera footage, activation records and the complete GBI investigative file particularly important public-record targets in the Dubois case.
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The agency subsequently faced significant scrutiny over another fatal shooting. The family of Saudi Lee, killed by Savannah officer Ernest Ferguson in 2022, filed a federal wrongful-death lawsuit alleging the department failed to adequately investigate Ferguson’s prior use-of-force history before hiring him. Reporting on that suit stated Ferguson had been investigated or disciplined multiple times for force while previously employed as a state prison guard.
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Savannah Police also faced a separate federal lawsuit stemming from the 2021 death of William Zachery Harvey, who died by suicide while alone in a police interview room. Five officers were fired following that incident, including officers disciplined over policy violations and others over a mocking message concerning Harvey’s death.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://gbi.georgia.gov/press-releases/2021-12-28/gbi-investigates-officer-involved-shooting-savannah
https://www.wtoc.com/2021/12/28/gbi-investigating-officer-involved-shooting-600-block-mlk-blvd/
https://www.wjcl.com/article/update-robbery-suspect-dead-after-being-shot-by-police-in-savannah/38629241
https://fox28savannah.com/news/local/man-shot-killed-after-pointing-gun-at-officers-running-from-armed-robbery-scene-gbi
https://www.ajc.com/news/gbi-investigates-100th-officer-involved-shooting-of-year/YSGR5K7FENEUDJJUIQL7W7J6OU/
https://savannahpd.org/scmpd-receives-95k-for-more-body-cameras/
https://thecurrentga.org/2024/06/21/family-of-man-killed-by-savannah-officer-files-wrongful-death-lawsuit/
https://www.wabe.org/family-of-man-killed-by-savannah-officer-files-wrongful-death-lawsuit/