Shooting death of Alabama man after chase in Georgia questioned

<p>The fatal shooting of an Alabama man after a chase by law officers in Georgia was described by the sheriff as a "suicide by cop" after the man pointed what appeared to be a weapon.</p><p>But family members of Kevin Todd Screws, 34, of Anniston, Ala., questioned the description, saying he had been in trouble with the law but never had a firearm or was involved in violence.</p><p>"I just want to know if my son's shooting was justified or if they could have spared his life," Screws' father, David Screws, told The Macon Telegraph.</p><p>Kevin Screws was fatally shot Jan. 27 at Woodlawn Cemetery in Perry after a 15-minute chase on Interstate 75 in which he drove a stolen sport utility vehicle, with local police, Houston County sheriff's officers and Georgia state patrol officers in pursuit.</p><p>Dawn Renee Thomas, 33, of Prattville, Ala., was the only passenger with Screws, investigators said. She was not injured and was being held on a Mississippi extradition warrant for grand larceny.</p><p>Houston County Sheriff Cullen Talton told the Macon newspaper that Screws did not have a weapon when he was shot, although he may have had one earlier and thrown it out during the chase. But he said law officers believed he had one when he got out of the SUV and pointed at them and they fired, Talton said.</p><p>"When you point something at somebody like a bank robber, you've got to think it was a weapon," Talton said.</p><p>"At this point in the investigation," Talton said in a written statement, "it appears that Screws, who was wanted in multiple states for thefts and escape, wished to commit what is commonly referred to as suicide by cop." Talton defined suicide by cop as "when you don't want to be taken alive."</p><p>Screws' father, a minister from Anniston, said his son suffered from mental problems and wouldn't even shoot a deer when they went hunting together.</p><p>Kevin Screws' parents and six of his children, ranging in age from 6 to 15, drove to Perry on Wednesday and went to the cemetery where the fatal shooting occurred. David Screws said his son was trapped and had no way of driving out to escape.</p><p>"This wasn't a shootout. It was a shoot-at," Screws said. "I believe they could have spared his life."</p><p>___</p><p>Information from: The Macon Telegraph</p>