A mysterious note left at a Georgia memorial for slain black jogger Ahmaud Arbery was left by someone not connected to the case who “was expressing their condolences” for the Feb. 23 shooting, police said.
What We Know:
- The note had raised the possibility of an unknown new witness in Arbery’s shooting death by two white men earlier Thursday, but that notion was later dismissed by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
- “The GBI has identified the individual that wrote this note,” the department said on Twitter. “The individual is not connected to the Ahmaud Arbery murder investigation. This person was expressing their condolences for Arbery’s death.”
We’ve received numerous tips & inquiries about this note. Please see our statement below. The Ahmaud Arbery murder investigation remains active & ongoing. pic.twitter.com/sCvueC1oMb
— GA Bureau of Investigation (@GBI_GA) May 14, 2020
- The unsigned note, left at a memorial at the site of Arbery’s death, reads: “Ahmaud I am so sorry. I should have stopped them. I am so sorry.”
- Arbery’s family now wants to find out who penned the card, CNN reported Thursday. “We need to discover who left this note!” the family’s attorney, S. Lee Merritt, wrote on Twitter. Two white men, ex-cop Gregory McMichael, 64, and his son Travis McMichael, 34, were charged with murder and aggravated assault in Arbery’s death last week.
- The arrests came more than two months after the shooting, during which police said the McMichaels cut off Arbery while he jogged, claiming they believed him to be a burglary suspect. Arbery was killed by two shotgun blasts during a struggle with Travis McMichael.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the state agency that took over the case from local police and prosecutors, has interviewed the McMichaels and several neighbors, including the man who filmed the fatal shooting on his cellphone. The anonymous note raises questions over whether one of them wrote it or if there is another witness.
