The Euharlee, Georgia police officer who shot and killed a teenager because she wrongly thought he was holding a gun had made a similar mistake in the past, and was fired from her previous job as a police officer as part of long history of blunders and poor job performance.
When 17-year-old Christopher Roupe answered the door at his home on the night of February 17, officer Beth Gatny opened fire on him. Gatny, who was there to serve a warrant on Roupe’s father, had thought the teenager was holding a gun. Lawyers for the Roupe family say the kid did not have a gun, and was likely holding a video game controller for the Nintendo Wii.
Roupe died as a result of the shooting. (RELATED: HORROR! Cop instantly shoots, kills teen who answered door holding video game controller)
New evidence has surfaced suggesting that Gatny had a history of making this mistake and should never have been employed by the Euharlee police department. In 2008, she fired her gun at a suspect who was trying to open his backpack because she thought he was armed. The suspect was not armed, and her partner said there was no reason to think otherwise. An investigation disagreed with the partner and found Gatny innocent.
Worse, Gatny was fired from her job as a police officer in Acworth, Georgia before joining the Euharlee force nine months ago. Gatny was fired for failing to show up for work, according to NBC News.
Gatny sought disability compensation and was rejected because her claim was “not medically supported,” according to personnel records.
She was reprimanded for failure to follow orders and for leaving her weapon with a civilian while her picture was taken. She was also involved in four car accidents.
Euharlee police did not immediately respond to a request for comment as to whether they were aware of these facts when she was hired.