LOGANVILLE, Ga. (NewsNation) — Gwinnett County Police Department fired officer Michael Oxford Friday after a viral video shows the white officer using a stun gun on a Black woman.
The officer responded to a Loganville home at around 7:30 p.m. for a property damage call in which a neighbor reported a group of people had thrown a bottle at her car, according to a Gwinnett County police statement. She also told officers one of the group members threatened to assault her 9-year-old child, police said.
Police said one of the women on the porch at a nearby home matched the description of a suspect in the complaint.
The video showed the officer speaking with another one of the women on the porch, identified by police as Kyndesia Smith, who could be heard saying: “You’re on our property.”
“We did not call you, I’m not going anywhere,” Smith said.
The officer responded that she was under arrest and grabbed her, later firing a stun gun at her, according to the video. The woman fell into bushes in front of the home, screaming as the officer continued to struggle with her in an attempt to place her in handcuffs.
The police statement alleged the officer gave the woman “several warnings” and told her she would be stunned if she resisted commands.
“The police department takes all use of force seriously,” the statement said. “An investigation into this incident is being conducted.”
Smith was charged with felony obstruction and simple battery against a police officer and was released after posting bond Wednesday, according to jail records. It was not immediately clear whether she had an attorney who could comment on her behalf.
The arrest comes as demonstrators around the country have called out racial injustice and police brutality during protests this summer, including in nearby Atlanta where a white officer now charged with murder fatally shot Rayshard Brooks, a Black man, in a Wendy’s parking lot.
Loganville is located about 45 minutes east of Atlanta.