The Atlanta cop who fired 17 bullets into Hip-Hop artist B. Green, outside a Buckhead bar while working off-duty security, had a history of disciplinary violations that raised concerns about his continued role in law enforcement.
The fatal shooting of B. Green, born Linton Blackwell, occurred on October 11 near 5 Paces Inn in Atlanta’s upscale Buckhead neighborhood.
According to the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s report, every bullet struck Blackwell from behind, including two in the upper back, one in the buttocks and 14 in the mid and lower back. The death was ruled a homicide.
The cop behind the trigger, Gerald Walker, joined the Atlanta Police Department in 2023 and was already under scrutiny before the shooting.
Records obtained by Capital B Atlanta through an open records request show that seven internal complaints have been filed against him. Six were substantiated.
The violations include issues with body camera protocols and arrest procedures. He is currently in what the department calls an “active reckoning period,” during which four of those complaints remain on his record.
“This [has] devastated our family,” said Jimmy Hill, Blackwell’s cousin. “They never did say he pointed a weapon at that officer.”
Walker was working a private security detail when he responded to a disturbance involving B. Green.
According to preliminary findings by the Atlanta Police Department and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Walker saw B. Green go to his car, retrieve something and place it in his waistband.
William Stanley, a friend who went to the bar with the rapper that night, said Walker had frisked both men before they entered and seemed to recognize B. Green from a previous encounter.
Stanley said he ran around the building and found the Hip-Hop artist already being shot.
“When I bent the corner, I saw BG, like he was trying to head back into the establishment, but the dude was already shooting him. He had already shot him over five or six times at that point.”
Walker has been reassigned to the Force Usage Review Assignment while the Georgia Bureau of Investigation continues its probe. Officers in that role are barred from working off-duty jobs but retain their badge, ID and service weapon.
B. Green’s song “You Aint Street” featuring Trouble and Bankroll Fresh, has racked up over 13 million views on YouTube. Unfortunately, every rapper on the song is dead.