Stone Mountain Man Dies After Officer Uses Taser in Carjacking Chase, GBI Says
STONE MOUNTAIN, Georgia – The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is conducting a Stone Mountain use-of-force investigation and a death investigation after a 20-year-old man died Sunday following a foot chase with a DeKalb County police officer. The DeKalb County Police Department asked the GBI to take the case.
The GBI identified the man as 20-year-old Vermontay Burch of Stone Mountain. Agents said he was pronounced dead at the scene with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
What investigators say happened
According to preliminary information from the GBI, DeKalb police received a report of an armed carjacking in Stone Mountain at about 4:51 a.m. Sunday. An officer went to the area of Lancashire Circle and found a car that matched the description in the report.
As the officer approached, a man got out of the car and ran, the GBI said. The man was later identified as Burch. The officer chased him on foot into an apartment complex near the 400 building of Eagle Springs Way.
During the chase, the officer fired a Taser and hit Burch, according to the GBI. Right after that, the officer heard a gunshot and found Burch on the ground with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Medical help was provided, but Burch was pronounced dead at the scene, the GBI said.
Autopsy and next steps
Burch’s body went to the DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy. The GBI said the investigation is active and ongoing.
The GBI will run an independent investigation. When it finishes, agents will turn the case file over to the DeKalb Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for review.
The GBI released a photo of a Crime Scene truck parked in the area of Eagle Springs Way.
The GBI has handled other recent cases involving DeKalb officers, including a July case in which the agency charged a DeKalb County police officer with manslaughter after a fatal shooting.
How to help
Anyone with information can call the GBI Atlanta Regional Investigative Office in Conyers at 770-388-5019. Anonymous tips go to the GBI Tipline at 800-597-TIPS (8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or through the See Something, Send Something mobile app.
