A state investigator is alleging that the white man accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery was heard saying a racist slur as he stood over the black man, moments after hitting him with three shots from a pump-action shotgun. During a probable cause hearing Thursday, the investigator said Arbery was repeatedly boxed in by two pickup trucks as he desperately tried to escape.
Special Agent Richard Dial says Travis McMichael then shot him in the chest, the hand, and the chest again during a struggle. The evidence challenges claims of self-defense during a citizens’ arrest attempt, and could factor into a federal hate crime investigation. A judge ruled there is enough evidence against the three defendants charged in the case to proceed to trial.
